Boilermaker 2008

Well the Boilermaker is over. 15k is so far the longest race I've run in. The course was hard - not brutal.

Laura and I lined up around 7:30am or so for the 8am start. Once the starting gun was fired it took almost 8 minutes for us to hit the starting line. Once we got going it took a while to weave our way around people into an area where we could run comfortably. Then of course i had to pee. So we had to re-weave our way around people again.

The weaving through people continued even through the hill at the golf course. Once we came down the hill and got on Memorial Parkway it opened up a bit. So 5 miles in and it opened up....i guess thats what happens when 11000+ runners are registered to run.

Laura said to me she didnt feel it and if i wanted to leave her to just go. I hung for a bit with her, but my Clif Goo i took started to kick in so I took off. As we came around in front of Pin O Rama, WOUR 96.9 had Stone Temple Pilots playing real loud which got me pumped up again.

From Burrstone Rd to the finish, it was mostly a blur. I remember high fiving spectators, dumping water on my head, running through hose mists and swearing at myself to keep up the pace. I can't imagine what people around me must have thought.

My gun time was 1:36:07 #5569 overall. After the race we found out that the chip timing system had some issues and didnt get the starts for most people so they scrapped the chip times. Laura had her watch going and we estimated that my "chip" time was 1:28:40ish.

Overall it was a great race, with great people along the race path to cheer us on. Look forward to running it next year.

Log:
Mile 0-1 --> Alot of weaving in and out of slower people, and getting weaved around by faster people. Not much to say about pace as it was just so slow due to amount of people.

Mile 1-2 --> Had to pee.....first time peeing in the weeds in front of thousands of people, however I was not alone. After pee stop more weaving and getting weaved around. Skipped water station.

Mile 2-3 --> Things opened up a very little. Then we started a small hill into the golf course area.

Mile 3-4 --> The hill. It was rough - but not as bad as I thought it would be in my head. I think since it was still pretty busy it kept me from just flying up the hill and "wasting" energy. At this point i started to drink 1/2 the cup of water and pour the other 1/2 on my head.

Mile 4-5 --> Goo'd up with Clif. And since it was going down hill, was probably my fastest mile, although i kept it under control.

Mile 5-6 --> I separated from Laura as my adrenaline kicked in - most likely from combination of crowd and Goo. Great crowds through here.

Mile 6-7 --> Up Burrstone Rd. This wasnt too bad and I felt the best during this mile. Not a huge surprise as usually on my long runs mile 6->7 are when I normally feel good.

Mile 7-8 --> Felt pretty good still in the beginning. As I got closer to the 8th mile I started to feel drained.

Mile 8-9 --> Felt drained for a bit still after passing the 8 mile timer. Around 8.5th mile, I started to feel better and was able to pick it up a bit. Ran through some hose water which made it all feel good. Passed up some people's offer to take a break for some free beer. Right before the 9 mile timer, i kicked it into a higher gear and took off for the finish.

Mile 9-end --> I was able to maintain my "higher" gear through to the end. Crossed finish line. Success - finished first Boilermaker.