2007 Tucson Marathon

4. Tucson Marathon – Tucson, Ariz. – Dec. 2, 2007

Because the basketball team was playing, I had to stay home for Thanksgiving, but the next weekend was a bye, so I decided to head to Tucson to visit my parents, eat another Thanksgiving dinner made by my Mom, and run the Tucson Marathon. Not necessarily in that order (Note: I do not advise carbo loading with turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie).

The race is almost entirely downhill and my training had gone exceptionally well, so I was looking for a great race. An early morning bus dropped us off in Oracle in the dark, but I ran into some familiar faces from Runner’s Edge. Steve Renda and the DiCroces (Sarah, Chris and Vince), among others, also made the trip. Temperatures were a little chilly while waiting at the start, but I dropped my throwaway shirt and gloves early, as the first few miles winded down fairly steep descents.

With mostly cloud cover and mid-50s to go along with the downhill course, the day was perfect for running. The entire route was along Oracle Road, except an out-and-back to the Biosphere, which also represented the only real uphill on the course, approaching the halfway mark. I passed Vince DiCroce, who was heading into a port-a-potty, the first and probably only time I’ll ever pass him in a race.

Oracle Road has a lot of traffic during the race,

but at least it's almost all downhill.

The course is not terribly scenic. As mentioned before, it’s almost entirely along Oracle Road. In fact, most of it is on the shoulder of the road, while the rest of the street is open to traffic. That meant runners had to deal with a slant to the left and car exhaust most of the day. Fortunately, those negatives are negated by the nearly 2,000 feet of elevation drop (see chart below). Oh, and my parents basically live right at the 20-mile mark. Mom and Dad and a few of their friends were out there to greet me with orange slices and Gatorade. It was just what I needed to overcome the wall, which I was finally able to fight through.

Not me in the finish chute. Actually, it's Gideon Talam,

who won the 2007 Tucson Marathon. 

I knew I was on pace for my best time, and I wasn’t about to quit. The course took a left-hand turn and winded through some neighborhoods until it ended at a local middle school. The final stretch was a little strange. The course turned right and continued for the final 100 feet or so in desert sand.

I killed my PR, finishing in 3:28 – more than 11 minutes faster than my previous PR. It took a little walking to find my parents, something my body disagreed with, but we got home safely. I threw a bag of ice in the hot tub, which had not been hot for several months and jumped in for my ice bath.

The night before, Mom made a dessert with banana pudding and Nilla Wafers, but obviously I couldn’t eat it the night before a race. Throughout the final several miles, I thought about how good that was going to taste. It was not to be. While I was covering the miles, Dad reached into the fridge and lost control as he grabbed it. The entire dish splattered all over the kitchen.

Somehow the PR helped me get over the disappointment.