Frey Reports on Finishing 4th in the Pan-Am MarathonThe Pan Am have been one of the coolest experience of my life. I arrived after a long flight down with fellow marathoner Chris Lundstrom, along with 10,000 meter guys Jason Hartman and Jorge Torres. Read more
1 comment:
I sat by a 7 foot plus basketball player from Georgetown on the plane and I kept pretending like the seat was too small for me to upset him.
The Pan Am Village has a tremendous vibe. All of the countries, all of the colors, and there is always something going on it seems. There is a big jumbotron in the International Zone which is constantly showing some competition and people are always cheering for their respective teams. The night after I got here was Ed's race. I dont want to steal his thunder on recapping the story, but it was unreal. The crowd is very anti-US to say the least, and Ed took a huge bite and chewed like crazy. That night Ed and I went to Bobs (which is Mcdonalds with Beer) and lightly celebrated his victory and my birthday while brushing off several pick-up attempts from the Canadian synchronized swimming team.
We train on a 3k loop called monkey park (named this because there are monkeys running around all over). There are guards with guns every quarter mile or so- and the park is entirely shut off for Pan Ams competitors. I made good friends with a few of the guards and they call me a word that apparently translates to "sweaty boy".
In my first and only trip without security I went to Christ the Redeemer ontop of Corcovado. Such a powerful statue I almost converted. The view is spectacular as well. Afterwards went to the beach with some Mexican atheletes- and watched some locals catch these long eel like fish. It was good to get out of the race mode for just a bit.
The field in the marathon looks phenomenally deep. Most countries have opted to send their guns to the Pan Am games rather than the world championsips in a few weeks. The bronze medalist from last olympics De Lima (the guy who was tackled) is the favorite, and the other brazilian along with both Mexicans, an Ecuadorian and a few others should be very very tough. The Brazilians go nowehere wtihout a posse following them, and I cannot say I have the same following. I plan on working together with the other marathoner Chris Lundstrom for the majority of the race. He is very experienced and consistent, and having a familiar face alongside will be nice to mentally handle the distance and the boo's. They are expecting an overflow crowd for the marathon so im ready for anything. The heat will be a major factor as the womens team bombed horribly and half of the field was carried off on stretchers. In any case, im as fit as possible, and I just need to get through these boring days of sleep and eating and too the starting line.
RACE DAY
I typically slept very little the night before the race and as soon as I woke up at 5:15 made sure to start packing down the fuel for the 8:30 start. A peanut butter and banana sandwhich, 2 clif bars, a plain banana, and plenty of water and endurance gatorade later I was on the bus heading for the starting line.
TV stations were everywhere video taping warmups, pre-race rituals, and were largely focused on the two brazilian runners. I did my typical 7 minute warmup while drenching myself in cold water to keep my body temperature down. The weather was odd to say the least.
While at 63 degrees it was well cooler than it could have been, it was still quite warm for a marathon, and there were intense downpours occuring every 50 minutes or so, and a blustery wind.
I know I’ve said this before- but it was the coolest feeling ever to put on the USA jersey before getting going. The pace the first two miles was extremely slow 5:35-40 pace, and Chris and I found ourselves in the lead. Through around 10k i ran along side De Lima of Brazil.
There were at least 5 motorcycles either filming him or protecting us from the crowd and blowing fumes at all times. The crowd was seemingly everywhere, and one of the most enthusiastic (be it positive or negative) I have ever seen. I made sure to give loud a loud "Abrigado" (thank you in portuguese) to every F@!% USA I got just to spite them.
Around 12k I was moving at about 5:10-5:13 pace and made the choice to let the pack go if they went any faster. I felt quite strong, but I knew that feeling quite strong at 12k of a marathon is entirely meaningless. Gibby and I talked about waiting until the 20 mile mark to make any serious move so I was content to take my gu at 9 miles, continue to focus on getting down plenty of fluids, and wait. I ran in 13th place at halfway in 1:08:50 and was beginning to get extremely
nervous that the pack was not coming back. Around 15 miles I saw
Silvio Guerra (4th in the NYC marathon) up ahead. Each successive person I passed I saw another couple 45 seconds or so up the road. At this point my splits were getting down below 5:05 and I was so excited that it was all I could do to keep from charging ahead. Around 28k/18 miles I downed a gatorade with a bit of caffeine mixed in and decided that I could maintain a strong move for the remaining 8 miles. With the exception of a mile or two dead into the wind I was at or below 5 flat pace to the finish. The most exciting part was that these 2:11 marathoners were completely falling apart! I was making up ground all the time and feeling phenomenal. The last 4 miles are a long out and back on the main drag of Copacabana and Flamengo Park. At some point going out, a nasty downpour struck. Afterwards many of the others complained of the downpour at that point in the race making their shoes too heavy. Since I begin every summer run with 5 pound shoes filled with sweat from the day before I was right at home. I passed a Venezuelan for 4th place with a half mile to go and hammed it up with the brazilian crowd the in the final stretch.
The finish area was a zoo, and I felt as if I was part of a boy-band for the next 2 hours. Several 15 year old girls broke through security for pictures, and i gave my race numbers to fans that were actually clammoring to get them. Nowhere in the US would people have cared so much! I had an old brazilian soccer jersey in my warmup bag- and put in on to ham it up a bit more, and not surprisingly the crowd loved the gesture.
The closing ceremonies that night were unbelievable as the infield of Maracana stadium essentially turned into a massive congo line. All in all a tremendous experience- and looking ahead now to the Trials in November.
And what a week for the Tribe! Ed ruins the field over the last 1000 in the 5k, Graham runs a big PR with a 13:23 to continue a fine Euro season, and i nailed a nice marathon. William and Mary must be doing something right!
Post a Comment