State Number 44
– Belleville Main Street Marathon
Belleville, IL
29 September
2018
I imagine every runner goes through similar thoughts
during a marathon. We sign up for a
race, train and then when we get to the race, something usually goes
wrong. From parking situations, long
lines at the porta-potties, waiting in the cold air, to navigating through the
hordes of people to stake your position in the corral – or even not feeling
well enough to think the day may not go as planned.
Yet, we sign up for another and another and another. But, at the end of the day, finishing a
marathon, whether it’s your first or one hundredth, is an extremely exciting
and rewarding experience. To me, it
never gets old.
Ask any Fifty States runner why they want to run a marathon
(or half marathon) in every state, besides being crazy and bordering on
irrational, the one answer you’re unlikely to hear is “Illinois.” Illinois?
The Chicago Marathon? Nope.
Aside from that popular and prodigious marathon, it turns
out most folks just don’t know where to look.
Admittedly, my visit to the Prairie State, or the Land of Lincoln as most
know it, started out more guns than roses.
I wasn’t going to allow myself to stop and smell the fragrances of the prickly-stemmed,
pinnate-leaved, showy-flowered shrub, but rather to come out with some sense of
consistent and unfailing focus, effort, speed and celerity. Focus and effort – yes. Speed and celerity – arguable.
I believe most fifty-staters typically knock off the
state of Illinois by running the Chicago Marathon, but I’m not a fan of big
marathons with big crowds and big entry fees.
I may not fit the norm, but I don’t like big city traffic and parking or
walking forever to the start line. Give
me a small low-key marathon in a small town any day. Sometimes, big things come in small packages.
The third running of the Belleville Marathon certainly
fits my bill for a small friendly marathon. Belleville is a marathon only event meaning
there are no half marathon, five or ten kilometer runners overindulging
themselves with all the finish line food – something that happened in Sioux
Falls (State No. 34).
Just because this fledgling event is small doesn’t mean
it’s insignificant or worth the time or expense. Even though the field of runners may number
on the low side (around 200), this marathon is big in many ways, like the
awesome crowd support, volunteers, organization, logistics, etc. Lest we forget, the much hyped Beast Craft BBQ
at the finish line.
Since its inauguration just two years ago, the Belleville
Main Street Marathon may be one of those races beginning to take shape attracting
the attention of marathoners from not only the Midwest, but also from around
the country. Located nearly thirty
minutes east-southeast of St. Louis, the city of Belleville is the most
populated city in the St. Louis metro area as well as southern Illinois. Sited in close proximity to Scott Air Force
Base, Belleville boasts it has the longest continuous Main Street. Whether that’s an accurate assertion or not is
still up for debate, but as I run the course, I will render a decision at that
time.
My wife and I departed LAX on a non-stop 3.5-hour American
Airlines flight to St. Louis’ Lambert Field (STL), touching down under a glittery
star-filled sky with pleasant autumnal temperatures.
We awoke early Friday morning to the unpleasant, obnoxious
and unrelenting sounds of lawn mowers, leaf blowers and weed eaters as the
hotel property’s landscapers decided to carry out their weekly grounds
keeping. Come on, really? Such a displeasure and frustration as we
needed to rest!
On marathon eve, we budgeted enough time to visit a
couple of sites in the St. Louis area prior to heading off to Belleville for
packet pick-up. First “on tap” was a
tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, then skyward for an unforgettable ride up
to the Gateway Arch observation area at the arch’s keystone.
Free beer is a big draw in any context. But free beer in addition to an opportunity
to get a behind-the-scenes tour at how some of the world’s most popular beer is
made? To some, that’s a hard decision to
turn away.
The tour involved a lot of walking with the first stop being
the company’s beloved Clydesdale horses and their stables for an up close look
at those regal majestic animals.
From there, it’s a trip to the beechwood aging cellar for
a peek at the enormous aging and filtering cisterns, holding enough beer to
fill over a million cans. The
temperature-controlled cellar is set to a constant 50°F for optimal
brewing/fermentation.
Next, the tour group proceeded to a multi-story building
for a refreshment break – our first sampling of either Budweiser or Bud
Light. As we sampled, everyone endured a
lecture of the brewing process and the ingredients that make up Budweiser and
Bud Light.
It was then up several flights of stairs to witness the
mash and skimming tanks along with a quick lecture of that process, which was a
little tough to hear through all the background noise.
Finally, it was
up several flights of escalators to the bottling room where thousands of still
unlabeled bottles made their way up and down conveyor belts, squeezes, rinse
machines, fillers and capping. I guess
the tour guides thought that the journey up the escalators were enough to call
for another sampling of freshly bottled beer – premium, lime or orange flavor? Upon exiting the bottling floor, each tour
participant received a bottle of Bud Light “born on” the date of our tour. After a short shuttle bus ride, we entered
the Biergarten at the main building for another indulgence of the tasty
libation and to relax, eat lunch or soak in what we all learned, and to some,
sober up.
 |
| For those who really care... |
 |
| Old Statehouse where Dred Scott trial occurred with arch in background |
During my formative years, I’ve always been fascinated
with St. Louis’ Gateway Arch. I believe
it is one of the motives that inspired me to become an engineer. Now, as a true engineer, I still revere the
arch’s design features, mechanics and structural components.
The famed arch, designed by well-known Finnish architect
Eero Saarinen, was completed in 1965 and serves as a testament to the westward
expansion of early United States history.
In the for-what-its-worth department, most people believe
St. Louis’ internationally recognized symbol assumes the profile of a simple
ordinary parabolic curve. In reality, it
is in the shape of a flattened catenary curve taking the same shape as a hanging
chain attached between two fixed points.
The only way up to the observation area is via a system
of tram “capsules” ingeniously designed in the late 1960s. Eight capsules each holding five people
ascend to the top from either the arch’s north or south side. Nervous riders wait in front of a pre-assigned
sliding door analogous to waiting for an amusement ride at Disneyland. The four-minute ride is certainly not for
the faint of heart or those with claustrophobic predispositions.
 |
| Tram system showing capsules |
 |
| Inside capsule. Note tight space. |
 |
| Waiting for the ride |
 |
| Looking up |
 |
| At the keystone |
 |
| Looking down |
 |
| Dome in old Statehouse |
The view from atop the arch is nothing more than amazing
with the horizon stretching out more than thirty miles in each direction, with
Belleville off in the distance.
 |
| Busch Stadium |
The quaint downtown area of Belleville is a bustling
space with a number of pubs, taverns and eateries, ornamented with white string
lights enfolding the decorative streetlights that brighten Main Street every
night, giving visitors the impression of a year-long Christmas season.
The historic boulevards and motorways of Belleville are
rich with history, with beautiful Victorian homes and buildings contouring the
city streets, taking one back to the good ‘ol days.
We checked in to our hotel a few blocks from the race
start and had pizza lunch/dinner at Papa Vito’s before picking up our race swag
at Toolen’s Running Start. Personally, I
thought the thin crust pizza pie tasted delicious, but that’s only my opinion.
As I waited for the minutes to count down to the start, I
wondered with a slight grimace if I was feeling well enough to confront the
marathon distance. With my last marathon
in July and a half marathon in August, I did have some long runs to prepare
myself, so why was I so nervous?
Since I’ve run between 5 and 15 races per year over the past years,
few of them have the special haze that comes with months of daydreaming. I think some runners in the Marathon Maniacs,
who run one or two marathons every weekend for the entire year, wonder
how they can enjoy races if they’re a staple of the everyday, like eating or
brushing your teeth. I’m simply going to
ease into a rhythm and enjoy what the day has to offer.
It goes without saying, I’m probably the sweatiest person
I know as I exercise or carry out some other physical activity. It seems I
start perspiring just standing still in eighty degree temperatures. I’m not high-strung, don’t have a high body
fat percentage, and certainly I don’t want to be sweating – but it still
happens.
I understand that sweating is a normal response to
exercise and, from my past experiences, I’ve observed a lot of variation in
sweat rates. As long as I continue to
drink fluids and am aware of the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, I take
the appropriate steps to protect myself from dehydration. I’ve also read that sweating earlier and more
profusely may be a sign of HIGHER fitness levels. Athletes and individuals who are aerobically
fit are more efficient at releasing heat and tend to sweat earlier in a workout
– go figure.
Whether it’s hot or cold, I come back from short four-mile
runs looking like I jumped into a lake. All that water loss leads to a
depletion of energy, especially in humid conditions. In these cases, the
sweating process is thrown out of sync because the water in the air doesn’t
allow perspiration to evaporate very quickly, the body’s genius way to cool itself.
So in hot and humid races (such as the 26.2 With Donna Marathon in Jacksonville, Florida or
the Hilton Head
Marathon in Hilton Head, South Carolina) I end up quickly bereft of all energy
and overheated.
So it should go without saying that I would avoid any
races held in typically hot, humid areas of the country. I would probably
shy away from most summer races altogether unless they were in Canada or along the
coastal Pacific Northwest.
Where I live, summer for me is analogous to what winter
is for most runners – that time of year where you just relax and let yourself
go because it’s too awful outside to pound the pavement. You’d think that, even though I ran a very
humid race in Kentucky and followed up that with an arduous race experience in
Vermont…in July. Even with rudimentary
meteorological terms such as “temperature” and “dew point,” they seem come
together in a complex way forcing me to hate the concomitant struggles, but I
did it.
So I suppose it was only natural to defy this trend and go
for a full marathon in a dissimilar environment – flat, fast and much cooler
temperatures. And why not? It’s an almost adolescent reflex – if
someone tells you, you can’t do something; it just makes you want to do it
more. In this case, that someone was my body.
Even with wildfire smoke infusing California’s central valley
air over the summer, I still forced myself out the door and put myself through
the many miles of training that goes into a marathon. I want to at least enjoy the event and not suffer
in awful conditions. I had learned to deal with heat from my previous
marathons, but the idea of slogging through another cool laden run called out
loudly to me.
Each Run Should Have a Purpose
Whether you’re running three miles on a weeknight or simply
pacing a half or full marathon, you should have a purpose every time you lace
up your shoes. Although some may
disagree – how often does a five-miler really have its own unique mission? I’d like to say, hopefully every time. There exists a debate on “junk miles,” or
miles that you run conservatively to rack up a bigger weekly total; however, I
resist striking them from my training program. Many claim running miles simply to rack up
mileage may not be as effective as targeted miles. But, sometimes it’s simply a matter of
perspective. Five miles at marathon pace
can either be five junk miles for the hell of it, or five miles to recover from
the previous day’s longer run, but I believe they count in some fashion.
In my world, a mile is a mile, 80 chains, 320 rods, 5280
feet or 1.609 kilometers. No matter how
you look at it, it’s the same distance.
But, to improve, you must do tempo runs, fartleks and other forms of
speed work. Lately, I’ve thrown those
“other forms” out the window and I find myself running miles just to maintain
my base fitness and endurance levels needed to complete 26.2 miles. Together with my work responsibilities, the
dreaded summer’s triple digit temperatures indubitably put a damper on my
training miles.
Let’s Get This Show
Underway
During the pre-race hours, my brain synapses fired
indiscriminately analyzing my pacing strategy.
I settled with a mile pace in the 9:45-10:30 range, accounting for water
stops, but realistically, maintaining that strategy is another question. While I did most of my “long” runs in the
9:45-10:15 margin window, I had to be realistic about the fact that I had not
been able to train consistently for most of the hot summer and I did not want
to quickly extinguish my internal flame after the half marathon split by plunging
out of the starting gate too fast.
However, still reeling from skillfully pacing a half
marathon in August, I stepped in to the corral of runners with self-assurance
and a positive outlook. The sun began to
shine against an azure-colored sky with temperatures hovering around 50°F. With a refreshing breeze circulating in and
around the buildings fronting Main Street putting just the right amount of
nippiness in the early autumnal air, anticipation swept over the crowd of
runners – let’s do this!
Approximately 200 runners toed the start line in front of
the fountain at Belleville Square at the traffic circle of Illinois Street and
Main Street. Shortly after the playing
of our National Anthem and with runners eager to bolt out of the starting line,
the race director sounded the air horn promptly at 0700, sending the swarm of bounding
runners on their journey.
The first half: (9:44, 9:39, 9:41, 9:46, 10:06, 10:06, 10:09,
10:23, 10:52, 11:04, 11:07, 11:38, 11:22)
When runners become more comfortable with the marathon
distance, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that after the half
marathon split, if you’re feeling good, you can coast through the remaining
thirteen like it’s a walk in the park. I
associate it to running ten miles during training – since it’s much shorter
than a typical long run, you go into the run thinking it will be a quick,
effortless jaunt. But if you start with
that attitude, you may soon find yourself bored or worse, tired, humbled and
ticked off at yourself for not performing at your best effort.
Sadly, I went into this race with a similar kind of
thinking. I wasn’t running for a particular time goal, but only for the
thrill of a race and finishing in under five hours, nor was I expecting Mother
Nature to put up a fight. The morning air was thick and cool with a
slight headwind, but the course ahead was supposed to be flat and fast with
some stubborn dispersed hills.
I stepped over the start mats with a slumped, but easy,
stride, as if running were punishment for forgetting to take out the trash. It really felt like a reprimand for something
I did since my left heel began to bother me affecting my stride. It wasn’t getting worse, but it wasn’t dissipating
either. Just a constant nagging ache,
knowing that after the marathon, I’ll be in for a rough afternoon – walking,
that is.
There was nothing particularly special about this race
that grabbed my attention months ago. It
was simply a small emerging marathon still in its infancy stages garnering good
reviews, and the convenience of knocking out Illinois without tangling with
Chicago or driving long distances persuaded me to sign up for it.
After dragging myself through that first half-mile, I soon
recognized I forgot to start my Garmin as I crossed the starting line. I also realized that if I wanted to
successfully navigate the landscape of southwestern Illinois, I’d have to
overcome my own attitude. That process
began by recognizing the challenge that lay ahead and to never assume that any
given race is in the bag. Hubris can be
a dangerous thing since it can set up unnecessarily high expectations, and the looming
threat of failing to achieve any time goal is increased by perfunctory form.
The first four miles of the course were fairly flat with
a few slight rolling hills in and around Belleville Park before joining a short
section of the West Belleville Trail eventually leading back onto Main Street.
In keeping with the event’s namesake, Main Street was
home for the next few miles until veering off into the Signal Hill neighborhood
near Marathon Mile 7. The tree-lined,
island separated boulevard colonized with mature spruce, elm and poplar trees,
seemed to be the centerpiece of the community filled with large, elegant homes
dating back to the early twentieth century.
 |
| Hippie-theme of Signal Hill |
 |
| Showing support |
 |
| Signal Hill |
 |
| Sampling of various signs along course |
Runners continued their tour through the chic
hippie-themed neighborhood for a short out-and back only to begin a long and wearisome
five-mile trek along Main Street to the half-marathon split on North 28th
Street, clocking in with a time of 2:15, more or less.
The second
half: (11:37, 11:51,
12:03, 11:35, 11:40, 12:38, 14:15, 12:39, 12:57, 12:14, 11:57, 11:14, 11:09,
10:26 projected pace for the final smidgeon)
I wasn’t at all disappointed with my half split
time. I kept a pretty consistent pace
and looked forward to the second half of the marathon. Besides my dull aching heel pain, I felt
pretty good, but it was time to administer two acetaminophen tablets at the
nearest water station to take the edge off the discomfort.
The weather definitely cooperated in my favor – cool and
breezy with a heavy cloud cover. The
clouds parted ways every so often allowing the sun to shine through, but any
heat remained at bay.
Shortly after Marathon Mile 15, runners veered off city
streets and onto the Richland Creek Greenway Trail, a two-mile, multi-purpose,
pathway meandering through the heart of Belleville. At Marathon Mile 16, I crossed paths with the
two lead runners on their way to the finish line with focused and determined
looks on their faces, and in no mood to gesture, “Nice job.”
The Richland Creek Greenway Trail connects to the six-mile
unshaded and nearly spectatorless MetroLink Trail paralleling the MetroLink
tracks, leading up to Marathon Mile 20 in the Brookhill Estates development, on
the southern flank of the Southwestern Illinois College campus. Fields of dried corn stalks and soy bean
plants dominated the scene on one side while looking on as the nearly riderless
MetroLink trains zip past on the opposite side.
This section of the course was, I would say, the dullest.
After paying a visit to the enthusiastic and zealous residents
of Brookhill, runners charged back out along the same MetroLink Trail for their
final ten kilometers to the finish line.
I knew what was in store for the next few miles, but I kept plugging
along, knowing that in the end, better scenery awaited at North End Park at
Marathon Mile 25, and better yet, the finish line.
I believe the most memorable part of my marathon experience
was around Marathon Mile 23 as a toddler approached and began running alongside
me, laughing and having a good time. Amazingly,
he ran with me for about a tenth of a mile as his dad made him stop. He began to cry and said, “But I want to run
with that man.” I stopped, gave the
little fella a “low” five and thanked him for the support.
I kept my pace consistent along the uninteresting and repetitive
trail until the final five kilometers, and as I entered North End Park, a slew
of boisterous spectators and volunteers give me much needed energy and vigor.
Within the final mile, I constantly monitored my overall time
making sure my sub-five hour finish time would become a reality. I just had to remember to add five minutes to
make up for the lost time at the very start.
My pace picked up and as I rounded the final turn back onto Main Street,
seeing the finish line off in the distance.
After a short negative gradient into a sag vertical curve, the grade
suddenly became positive. My first
thought, Kansas City once again – a tough uphill finish.
One man stood between me and the finish line. I was not about to let him finish before me
so I picked up the pace enough to sneak up behind him and charge ahead over the
final 100 meters.
My presence was undeniable as he noticed me and picked up
his pace. I heard some spectator exclaim,
“We have a race!” I glanced over my
shoulder to see him closing in, so I gave it all I had with a final kick sprint
to eke him by three seconds. That was my
defining moment of the race and worth every effort.
If I had that kind of energy to finish that strong, maybe
I needed to give more during the race.
Coulda, shoulda, woulda. But hey,
I succeeded by beating my goal time.
RACE STATS:
Distance:
Marathon (26.2 mi) – my Garmin clocked it at 26.29 mi
Date: 29
September 2018
Bib No.: 153
Weather at
start: 50°F breezy, under a canopy of clouds
Chip time: 4:56:53.594
Average
cadence: 157 steps per minute
Average pace: 11:20
per mile
Overall rank: 134
of 192
Gender rank: 85
of 110
Division rank: 12
of 15
Elevation: 696
ft gain / 650 ft loss
Half split: 2:15:22
(10:21 pace)
Average finish
time: 4:35:09
Standard deviation:
0:55:21
Age graded
score: 47.88%
Age graded
time: 4:16:48
Garmin splits: 9:44, 9:39, 9:41, 9:46, 10:06, 10:06, 10:09, 10:23, 10:52, 11:04, 11:07, 11:38, 11:22, 11:37, 11:51, 12:03, 11:35, 11:40, 12:38, 14:15, 12:39, 12:57, 12:14, 11:57, 11:14, 11:09, 10:26 (projected pace for
the final smidgeon)
I received my
coveted finisher’s medal proud of my accomplishment and wrapping up State
44. I picked up some post-race food, BBQ
chicken sandwich (even though I asked for pulled pork), chocolate milk, water
and a mylar blanket, sat down and took a much needed load off my achy dogs.
 |
| Definitely not I...but I felt as if I could surely wolf down this burger |
Usually, our
customary protocol is to supplement a marathon with a delicious juicy burger,
fries and an ice cold beer, but time wasn’t on our side. We cleaned up, changed clothes and charged
out of Belleville en route to STL for our late afternoon flight back to LAX.
LIKES / WHAT
WORKED:
- Great course on a portion of the longest Main Street.
- Wonderful place to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city.
- A small, but very well organized event from packet pick-up to the multiple aid stations along the course.
- Super friendly spectator and volunteer support.
- Great tech shirts.
- Hats off to the great spectators displaying their support!
- Mostly shady course.
- Excellent BBQ and beer at the finish
- Plenty of finish line food.
- FINISHING!
DISLIKES / WHAT DIDN’T WORK:
- The out-and-back MetroLink Trail.
Final thoughts:
I was impressed!
Belleville delivered a big small town welcome and support for this
professionally organized event. As soon
as runners arrive at the start, it was evident that the staff and volunteers welcome
and encourage all the runners. The
course is predominantly flat with some small hills thrown in to make the course
interesting and are spaced out enough as not beat up runner’s legs.
The marathon course basically comprises two segments of
an out-and-back configuration with a large segment of the second half run on a
pedestrian/bike trail. The trail can overwhelm
a runner’s zeal, but persistence and focus are key to conquering the pathway.
As a way to distract tedium and fatigue, race organizers
and sponsors scatter abundant portable signs with inspirational, funny or
amusing messages all along the course.
There are more than enough water stops on the course and spectator
support (which lined most of the course) was amazing. To me, each water stop seemed like a mini
marathon party, with everyone so energetic and eager to please every runner and
make sure they have what they need to continue.
Event shirts featured a great design and finisher’s medals were big and
very classy in the shape of the state of Illinois. Post-race food, BBQ and drink was fantastic
and not just grab and go; a far cry from the usual “hot bologna, eggs and
gravy” routine seen at too many marathons.
The finish line announcer calls out each person’s name as they come in. It is so cool to hear your name announced for
all to hear acknowledging your hard work!
AMAZING RACE!
Was this the longest continuous Main Street? Maybe.
I’ll just have to give them the benefit of the doubt.
By running a marathon in all 50 states, there's no better
way to explore the country around you than ploughing along on your own two
feet, for as long as you can, until you hate yourself and everything around
you. Then you stop, take a deep breath, get
a medal, and start over. Next up, Baltimore
and Atlantic City.
Onward and upward!
No comments:
Post a Comment