Tracey's Fat Ass Marathon - 3rd of Triple
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| The Donkey |
The course was mainly running around 'Lake Merced', San Francisco. This
lake is a cachement basin for the city (I think) and It's a beautiful
lake, although unfortunately it is fenced off and not for public use.
There were runners for the full, half and also 4.5 Mile (Ultra 5k) marathons taking place at the venue.
The course of the Full Marathon consisted of 4 large laps (Approx. 4.5
Miles each lap) and 2 smaller laps across a short bridge.
At the start I managed to spot a few Maniacs, I saw my Maniac fellow
runner Paul Rodman at this event, he had been at the previous days San
Francisco Marathon with me, and today was his second day of his first
ever double marathon.
I also noticed another ''Marathon Maniac' Trent Morrow aka Marathon
Man. Trent is an amazing guy, always positive and motivational. He was
running his 63rd Marathon here and had also ran the San Francisco the
day before and Tracy's Fat Ass was the third
day of his Triple. Trent is aiming to complete 160 Marathons in 2013 to
set the world record for the most marathons ran in a calendar year and
he is attempting all this in his Superhero outfit 'Superman'! He was
introduced to me on Facebook by running buddy
'Annie' who I met out in Paris 2012 with 'Marathon Maniac' Mohan.
Having taken a group photo at the start of the marathon, Tracy was
ready at the start-line up to call 'GO' and we all set off prompt at the
8am start time.
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| The Tracy's Fat Ass Marathon TEAM 2013 |
The
marathon started very well at first, in fact I was flying throughout
the first 4 laps. I started running the first lap with Trent aka
'Marathon Man'.... at a fairly faster than my normal speed. I had told
him that I'd slow down as soon as I'd got to the
second lap as I knew I wouldn't be able to sustain my speed throughout.
He took a live 5-10 minutes video interview of me whilst running. We
then bumped in to 'Andy', a Sub 04:30 runner, after exchanging a few
tips he started running at a faster speed with
Trent. They both sped up and eventually I was left running behind them
until around the start of the 4th lap, and then I totally lost them and
kept on running at my own speed in hope that I would catch up with them
again. The other guys were amazed at the speed
I was running at as I was running in the opposite direction to them. I
started to high five as many of the runners as I could recognise on the
course to give them encouragement just as we passed in opposite lap
directions.
Tracy had announced at the start of the event that we should run
the course in the reverse direction on each lap, so runners would see
each other more often.... As I had started running with Trent from the
beginning, he'd advised me to run in one direction
as he'd ran the course previously, and thought it messed up with your
mind. Now come to think about it, I think he has a point there.
The course was mostly flat but had rolling hills that were pretty
optimal for using different muscles, but this was nothing compared to
San Francisco the day before. It was the best FINISHING time for me out
of all the 3 days of running.... So I was very proud
of myself (Thanks to 'Marathon Man' - I was hitting around 18 Miles in 3
Hours & 30 Minutes).... Had I had continued the last 2 laps at the
same speed I reckon it could have been a PB run under 5 Hours.
1st Day - 27.5 Miles (05:30:40) - Crissys 6|12 Hour ULTRA (Total 26 laps)
2nd Day - 26.2 Miles (05:49:45) - San Francisco Marathon
3rd Day - 26.2 miles (05:17:07) - Tracy's Fat Ass Marathon
I struggled dramatically on the 2nd final lap, my legs just did not
co-operate I was left with nothing in the tank. I felt so bad that I had
to limp/walk most of it. Having got to the final lap checkpoint I met
runner Rocco Mullinax. Rocco is a local guy from
San Francisco, he was very humourous and tried to make me laugh. He'd
told me he was only running the Half, and that he was slightly late in
starting. We walked, light jogged, and ran as much as we could of the
final lap and then finished together. He was
such a kind guy in offering one of his medals which he had in his car to
me. It was 'The Lagoon Valley Marathon Medal' which he'd ran, very chunky bit
of bling too. I told him I didn't want to take it as I hadn't ran the Marathon
and so I wouldn't feel I deserved it. He insisted
I take it back home with me.... Rocco - Thank You so much for your
medal... I don't know how to thank you, I'll always keep it as a memento
of meeting you!
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| Running alongside Mr Marathon Man aka Trent Morrow (Running his 63rd Marathon) |
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| Feeling the pain on the 2nd Final Lap - Ouchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........ |
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| Carrots.... Apples |
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| Some more SNACKS |
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| Potatoe CHIPS, Grapes & Peanuts on the course |
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| Endorophin Dudes 100th Marathon Cake - Absolutley Yummy!!! |
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| Before it got blown away by the wind........... |
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| Marathon MANIAC - Tony Nguyen cutting his 100th Marathon CAKE on the course. He ran San Francisco as his 100th the day before |
'Marathon Maniac' Tony Nguyen aka Endorphin Dude was also there, the
race was in his honour as he'd completed his 100th Marathon in San
Francisco the day before. He was the official time keeper of this event,
keeping track of the laps and times of the runners.
There was also a '100th Marathon' cake on the course for runners to
nibble as they ran around the lake.
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| Electrolyte Drinks |
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| Lesley, Me, Sarah and Davey at the FINISH |
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| A few of the RUNNERS at the FINISH with their MEDALS |
Just
about all the people running were Maniacs or Half Fanatics (the race
had a marathon, half marathon, and also 4.5 Mile (Ultra 5k) distance
taking place.
Another Final Group Finish photo was taken with our medals, until
gradually the runners started to depart..... I hung around until Davey,
Lesley and Sarah finished and we were then driven back to our hotels by
Tony 'Endorphin Dude'. Thank you for the journey
back to Hotel Tony, we all really appreciated it, especially since my legs
were about to give in!
The event was very well organised and again this was another low key event with only around 30 runners taking part.
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| 3 Blisters after Running FIRST Triple - One more between middle toes on right feet (NOT SHOWN)....... |
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| FINISH Medal - Time 5 Hours, 17 Minutes & 7 Seconds |
We payed very little for this event compared to the San Francisco Marathon :-
San Francisco Marathon - USD150 (Approx. 20,000 Runners)
Tracey's Fat Ass Marathon - USD20 (Approx. 30 Runner)
I am now officially a 'RUTHENIUM Level - 5 Star MANIAC'..... 3 Marathons in 3 Days.
First QUADZILLA now booked for early February 2014 with Enigma Running.
