Death Valley Borax Marathon Race Report
PRE-RACE
My race weekend started at the end of the school day on Friday. I closed up my classroom, took my kids to their Mom and by 3:00PM I was off. I had a 7 ½ hour drive Friday night from Paradise to Lone Pine, California Reno Mt. Whitney , the highest point in the contiguous U.S.
I woke up before the wakeup call but stayed horizontal until it was time. Got ready and hit the complimentary breakfast for some coffee and a bagel. I had 104 miles to drive into Death Valley that morning. I had allowed 2 hours but made it to Furnace Creek Ranch in 1:45.
Race registration was in the Corkscrew Saloon. No race expo lines to deal with—basically walked in, was handed my bib and I was all set with nearly an hour to spare.
Race registration was in the Corkscrew Saloon. No race expo lines to deal with—basically walked in, was handed my bib and I was all set with nearly an hour to spare.
THE RACE
There is a pre-race gathering in front of the start line. The race director gives a little speech (a few jokes at the expense of the Rock-n-Roll marathons), provides race instructions, and leads the crowd in singing “America
The Marathoners get to start first (all 111 of us), followed by the Half Marathoners (165) and 10K runners (65). At 8:06 AM, we counted down and off we went! Since the course doesn’t allow headphones, I spent the first 6 miles singing “America
At around the 6th mile, the pleasant little breeze that had been blowing into our faces since the start of the race began to gradually increase. By the time we got to the turnaround it had become a significant headwind. I found myself pushing into the wind as it increased and pretty much kept to my goal pace (9:09, 9:11, 9:10, 9:16, 9:01, 9:07, 9:14)—this turned out to be a serious error. More on that in a bit. I sung to myself “I’ve Been Through the Desert on a Horse with no Name” during this leg. I made the half in just a smidge over 2:00. The turn-around was marked by a cone and a “TA” in red tape on the pavement. The race director was at the turnaround chatting with the runners.
As soon I turned around, I immediately felt the relief of getting the wind at my back instead of in my face. For about a minute, I really enjoyed that. After that minute I started to feel warm…too warm. The wind was at my back and the desert sun in my face. I think the next 6 miles were with a little Tom Petty, “Running Down a Dream .” Sadly, that dream was already slipping away. By miles 18 and 19 I knew that my time goals weren’t going to happen (9:13, 9:15, 9:19, 9:13, 11:03, 9:59).
At this point in the race I started to go to that very bad place. My head was down and I was hot! Somewhere at this point in the race I was reminded of the Scripture (Psalm 121 in case you care), “I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord.” So I lifted up my head and looked around at the hills that surround Death Valley . This was where I began to keep my promise to myself to smile the last 6 miles.
Smiling changed my reaction to the circumstances, but I was still very hot. I began to take walk breaks which were became longer until I was only taking short run breaks from my walking. By the end of mile 23, I was no longer producing sweat and I became worried about heat exhaustion or worse. Mile 24 lasted for an eternity. You can see the finish line from a long way off—the trees at Furnace Creek are easy to spot—but it doesn’t seem to get any closer. I reminded myself that it is better to finish slow that not at all. In fact, I was here in Death Valley because I wanted to be there. So, no pity party for me, I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I took pictures along the way and tried to take in the beauty of the desert landscape (12:25, 13:23, 12:15, 13:43, 18:47, 15:04, 17:32, 5:29). I crossed the finished line in 4:45.50.
POST-RACE
Rehydrating was my first priority. I'm pretty sure that this is what I looked like at the finish:
I believe that I drank about 120 oz of water and Gatorade during the race. I easily drank another 100 oz of fluid after the race and still it was over two hours before I felt like I would ever need to pee again. The post-race atmosphere was very low-key, but in a good way. No big festival-like environment, just a well-stocked table of drinks and snacks, and volunteers handing out race medals and t-shirts.
I believe that I drank about 120 oz of water and Gatorade during the race. I easily drank another 100 oz of fluid after the race and still it was over two hours before I felt like I would ever need to pee again. The post-race atmosphere was very low-key, but in a good way. No big festival-like environment, just a well-stocked table of drinks and snacks, and volunteers handing out race medals and t-shirts.
Race highlights—I don’t think this one qualifies as a “destination race.” A better term might be a “bragging rights’ race. However, one of the highlights for me was meeting a lot of really experienced marathoners. One guy considered himself a slacker because he had only run 30-some marathons. There was a couple from Montreal
Lessons learned: 1) running into the wind is to be treated with the same respect as running uphill. Harder wind=steeper hill. I definitely fried myself by keeping my goal pace into the headwind on the first half. 2) Dehydration is bad—I drank a lot a fluid but did not keep up with what my body needed. The arid climate, sun and wind sucked every bit of moisture out of me. 3) 10 hours of driving the day before a marathon isn’t a great idea. 4) Goals are not always in your control, but goals are not everything. If I run because I love to run, then there is always something to smile about, even if it’s hard (or perhaps, because it’s hard).
After I finally got rehydrated, I drove down to Badwater Basin Reno Marathon #2 is in the books.
Bonus pic: Here is the cleanup crew if you fall out during the race.
