2008 Omaha Marathon

7. Omaha Marathon – Omaha, Neb. – Sept. 28, 2008

This was the second annual road trip for Runner’s Edge of the Rockies. As an added bonus, the Denver Pioneers were playing a men’s soccer game at Creighton the night before the race, giving me two reasons to run this race.

About 40 of us made the trip (although I once again bypassed the bus and opted for a flight) from Denver to Omaha. Doing trips like this with a group is a great way to get to know a few more people before the race, and seeing a friendly face while running can always give you a needed lift. A dozen of us went to an Italian restaurant to carboload the night before the race, just before I sneaked away to work the soccer game.

The race course was a little different than most. The organizers basically created a route in which all the racers could be together through as much as possible. It was a 5K loop around downtown before shooting south to a loop that led us through the zoo – no animals anywhere in sight, which seemed odd – and then past the legendary Rosenblatt Stadium, which hosted the College World Series from 1948-2010. Just after that, I caught up to my friend Dan Roberts, who at 6-foot-8 seems to cover each mile in about four steps. I came into the race without much of a time goal. I wanted to kick back and see what happened, hopefully gaining a little confidence back after Steamboat. After a couple of miles, I asked what his goal was. “I want to break four hours, but David (Manthey, the Runner’s Edge coach) thinks I can get 3:45-3:50.” Dan had run quite a few marathons at that point and was a very good runner, so I was shocked to learn he had never gone sub-four. I was hell bent on making sure he did this time, so I decided I was going to stick with him, whether he wanted me there or not.

The crew that rode the bus to Omaha. Dan Roberts
is the one that's nearly as tall as the trees.

We settled in as we headed back past the start/finish area for a loop around North Omaha. It wasn’t as scenic as the first half, which seems to be common as more races cater toward the half marathon since it generally has more people. In fact, we learned after the race that there was a murder that had police investigating within about a block of the course. We were blissfully ignorant as we ran. As I helped Dan, he helped me, whether he knew it or not. That's something I've found in a lot of races: helping other people reach their goals somehow makes the races easier and more enjoyable for me, especially times like this when I knew I would be happy to finish in that general time frame. We flew down a pretty steep hill and circled a park stride-for-stride. Dan and I both crossed the finish somewhere south of 3:50. Running with a friend really made the miles go much easier, and this experience convinced me to try some official pacing later on.

While running through the Omaha Zoo,
I heard a few animals, possibly even this one,
but I certainly did not see any of them.