Keith and Austin
New York, New York!
There is no effort I can make that will exclaim the uniqueness of the New York experience beyond that which has been described by so many in song. Of course, Sinatra is at the top of the list. Surprisingly, the recent foray by Alicia Keys runs a closer second than one might think. In addition to these timeless entries, consider the varied offerings: “42 Street” by Ruby Keeler; “Give My Regards to Broadway” by George M. Cohan; “52nd Street” by Billy Joel. But further consider that the following have all honored her-Stephen Sondheim, Robin Gibb, Chicago, Simon and Garfunkel, The Clash, Goo Goo Dolls, Fat Joe,, Wu-Tang Clan, Ramones, John Coltrane, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Blues Traveler, Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder….well the list is inspiring and diverse.
New York is the greatest city in human civilization. How cool to run 26.2 miles through her storied boroughs. I do hope to make this a yearly sojourn.
Though I had run the Atlanta Marathon the weekend before, the enthusiastic crowds pulled me along such that I soon forgot that I was tired. As you crossed into each borough, residents proudly proclaimed, “Welcome to the Bronx!” or “This is how we do it in Brooklyn!” as they sang and danced to the music of a local favorite band.
This was the end of my year long quest to run a marathon-a-month. I undertook this adventure to fulfill a promise from my youth that I would remain physically active and intellectually curious for my entire days.
I started with the belief that this was, in the main, a physical endeavor. To a degree it was. However, to a significant degree it revealed to me the robust and indomitable nature of the human sprit. Along the way I met cancer survivors, Afghanistan war amputees, former fat folks, etc. who made a personal decision to get on with life. I never witnessed a whiner among them. On the other hand, I can go to church and here lamentations from those far more fortunate. I suppose that god helps those who seize the day.
I learned that talent is not needed to accomplish great things. Rather the order for success follows most easily: the courage to take the first step, consistency of action, and a passion for what you are doing.
I will miss this adventure. I am starting others.
Sine die,
Keith Clemens Feb. 16th, 2012
The highlight of this race was spying my wife, dog, and son at mile 16. Little man Austin, in his giraffe Halloween costume, exclaimed, “daddy”, and leapt into my arms (like only a little boy giraffe can leap). The bystanders went, “AAAAHHHHH”. My heart pumped joy and a smile erupted on my face that expressed just how right all was in my world.
In addition, mile 16 is the start of a 3 mile downhill leg. Perfection comes in many forms.
Running a marathon in Atlanta is a battle of wills with the hills. I have learned to run negative splits for this reason. Newbies to Atlanta marathons are easy pick-offs at the end of the race. And so it was again proved the correct strategy. I felt like a fleet footed Kenyan passing so many from mile 20 on. It was not that I was speeding up; it was that I was not slowing.
Next week New York!!!!
Chicago is my kind of town. As Sandburg penned, “City of the Big Shoulders”; grand, open, bold, robust. I could live here under either the conditions 1. It is moved 500 miles south, 2. Between April 1st and Oct. 31st. The other side of these dates the city well earns its other moniker of The Windy (and cold) City.
The marathon pushes its way through the grand neighborhoods: Lincoln Park, Irving Park, Belmont Gardens, and Avondale. All along the route you know where you are as you can always see the Sears Tower and thereby situate yourself.
The Chicagoans turn out with enthusiasm. There was not a space along the route bare of cheering onlookers. The weather certainly agreed with all. It was a sunny, not a cloud in the sky, low humidity day: perfect for 45,000+ members of the human race to celebrate life and their marathon accomplishment.
This was the start of the sweet spot of my racing year. Next up Atlanta Oct. 31st, then New York 1 week later!
Small but generous with beauty!
Boone, NC., Watauga County.
Fall is a superb time to be in the Appalachian Mountains. Certainly Boone, NC is in the sweet spot of this geography. The Appalachians are smaller by a magnitude than the Rockies (my Pike’s Peak adventure) but their majesty is not muted by this yardstick: small is beautiful.
The race was well weaved into the fabric of the region as the first 7 miles were a vertical gain of 3,000 feet. This was a true mountain marathon which offered trails along streams and alpine vistas.
There were only 36 of us in the race. You might think that much of the race would be run alone. I had the good fortune, at the 7 mile mark, to hook up with a really fine fellow, Dan Lieb. As it turns, he is a Ph. D. in finance, with a concentration in behavioral finance-an area that I have a particular interest. The next 19 miles flew by as I picked his brain.
I must add that this was Dan’s 52nd marathon for the year. What should I think about my marathon a month challenge?
America’s Ultimate Challenge: Pike’s Peak Marathon.
In academia, when trying to fully vet a subject, you site original source material. Using this M.O. please read from the Pike’s Peak Marathon website:
There’s a reason trees don’t bother growing above 12,000′ on Pikes Peak. They can’t! Makes one wonder if trees are smarter than runners. Above tree line most runners take 30 minutes or more, some much more, just to cover a mile. What little air remains can’t satisfy the endless stream of zombies hoping only to survive their next step—a death march right out of a scene from Dawn of the Dead.
So when I tell you that this was the most fun, most exhilarating sporting event that I have done………
Salt Lake City-at altitude with the Mormons.
One of the pleasures of travel to different places in this great country is observing the pockets of differences. These nuances are the result of heritage, geography, natural resources, and other undefined quirks of history.
The folks in Minnesota are Mid-Western nice by tradition and temperament, while the Mormons are a less diverse group united by creed and wholly dedicated to family.
This race is run on Pioneer Day which celebrates the day the original Mormon pioneers crested the mountains and came down through Emigration Canyon to The Great Salt Lake. The race follows this trek.
This was my test and prep at altitude for America’s Ultimate Marathon Challenge: Pike’s Peak, August 21, 2011. We started at 7500ft elevation atop Big Mountain just outside Salt Lake City. I made great friends as usual. There was the 25 year old nurse who told me that she is considered on old maid in this culture, the 75 year old gent running his 725th marathon(now that is crazy!!!), and the guy with USA shorts running with a cigar.
The altitude did not bother me much as the race is mainly downhill and I super-hydrated. In fact, at the 18 mile mark there was a 4mile uphill-never have I been so pleased to see an uphill!!
The race ends in Liberty Park which was full of folks enjoying a parade, BBQ, and, of course, family time. I have never seen so many families seemingly happy to be hanging out together. This left a very strong impression. Though I may question their founding documents, one cannot overlook this dedication to family. If you have to err, that is a good starting point.
But then have a Catholic try to explain the Trinity…
Child of the North
I was born and raised in FL. I enjoy the heat. I love the beach. I always say, “rather be hot than cold.” I do not like to be cold.
The average temperature in Duluth in February is minus something. Egad!! I could not live here and it is hard to comprehend that people actually do choose just that.
But for running marathons the colder climes are just right. The race was June 18th, and even at the start of summer, it was a perfect 55 degrees. This was the fastest marathon for the year. The wind was from behind, the course was slightly downhill and gently rolling, and the temperature optimal with a slight cooling rain. Callaway and Atlanta were cool but windy and very hilly.
Nashville and Chattanooga were hot, windy, and very hilly. Ft. Lauderdale was flat but hot.
I must make mention of the fine but amusing folks from MN, and for this matter, the broader geographic area founded by the Germans and the Swedes, and the Norwegians.
It is well known that they are Minnesota nice. And they really are—annoyingly so. But more stressful is that you cannot help but to start speaking like them. They have this sing songy lilt thing. Well, you have seen the movie Fargo. It is like rap yodeling.
In the Peanuts cartoon, the adults always talked like this, “Wha, wha, wha whhaaa, whaaa, wha.” Did you find that unlike normal speech where your mouth goes horizontal, instead your mouth went vertical. Just like the Peanuts characters.
That is how they speak. “ Ah right, you know, my cousin, is from the Uuuu P (upper peninsula).
“You betcha, eh.”
Itsa lie!!
The Chattanooga Marathon was my first trail marathon. I enjoyed it and would do it again: HOWEVER!
Do not believe those pics in your running magazine advertising trail marathons. You may have seen the now codified pic of a lone runner or a group of runners single file, striding on a soft inviting rolling slope, even as they enjoy an incredible vista of mountains and the azure lake below.
Itsa lie!
A trail marathon is a beastly thing of narly ruts, cracked granite obstacles, and fallen trees. The upside to the necessary fixation of watching your feet, for fear of tumbling off the mountain, is that time is truncated. In a normal marathon you must play mental games to keep from boredom between miles 15-20. In this case, when I looked up at the 15 mile mark, I felt as though only 30 minutes passed.
The fellow that won the race in an unimaginable 2 hrs 47 minutes, must be 1/2 man 1/2 hoofed beast-a Minotaur!
Nashville is an under-rated town. They certainly turn out their best for their marathon (4100 runners) and their half-marathon, (25,000 runners). Their best included great food, and a world class band at every corner. The mass of runners and the bands make for a remarkable energy.
The weather was hot, the wind seemingly always in my face, and from the start I felt I was in a M.C. Escher painting where every road is impossibly uphill.
It had been a long couple weeks of work, of family visitations, of recovery from my official 50th B-day event. I went into this race tired, but was able to keep these distractions at bay.
This was definitely a tap, tap on the shoulder from the Grim Reaper of old age reminding me that I am 50!
BUT not just yet, o’le Reaper, not yet, “Get thee to a nunnery!”
I am not ready to bow down.
Next race I will be well rested.
Chattanooga Trail Marathon, May 21st!!!
The Ides of March are upon us. It is the running of the Georgia Marathon, 3-20-11. The weather turned out to be 15F cooler than forecast. The downside of this fortunate event was that cloud cover shielded the moon. Earlier I had caught brief glances of this particular and rare sight: the moon was at its perigee. The last time this happened was 18 years earlier. No doubt the fishing was great on the coast.
The race started at 7:00am. Unusually, I started with the IPOD wafting tunes through the brain.
The gun sounded and I hastily hit the dial to Layla, by Derek and the Dominoes, with the incomparable Eric Clapton and Duane Allman holding forth on what is now considered to be a codified rock tour de force. This dual guitar juggernaut coaxed me through the half mile. Recall that the song transitions to an equally famous piano coda—this eased me through the remainder of the opening mile. What could be better?
Thelonious Monk’s Blue Monk started the second mile. Back-to-back genius, but different genres. Monk’s music is so exceptional. He takes a purposely out-of-tune piano and then not satisfied with this outrageous defiance, stretches dissonance and syncopation to the event horizon.
There is so much more to tell about the race, but in deference to Monk I should end………
The sky of Ft. Lauderdale is familiar from my youth; the clouds light, white, and playful, and even more familiar is that they can be viewed from horizon-to-horizon. My current home in Atlanta offers its own delights of a heavy forest (which makes for a narrow view of the sky) in the foothills of the Appalachian Piedmont. With apologies to Proust, this is a welcomed remembrance of things past. I was born and raised near the beach in FL, and home is where I am.
This was a truly beautiful marathon as it winged its way down A1A with the azure Atlantic Ocean on the right for 13 miles and then on the left coming home. Highlights of the trip included: a 6 a.m. start that allowed for the filming of the full moon, and the sunrise at 7:32 a.m.; an interview with Basil, a proud Egyptian who was running draped in his country’s flag; a waiter running with a service plate and wine glasses; and the female beach volley ball players near the end of the race beckoning us to the finish line. The temperature at the end of the race was near 80F, and as this is double the average running temperature in Atlanta, the heat was definitely affecting me. The female beach volley ball players may have been Sirens calling us to Scylla and Charybdis.
Whew hew; it is on to Publix Atlanta, March 20, 2011!
Keith Clemens: A Year of Marathons 