Back To Back Marathon Weekend - A three person perspective

Well it was a few months ago now that Kevin said to me do you feel like doing a back to back in new England in October. After thinking about it for all of maybe 1 second I said yeah, Ok. So this past weekend we travelled with Oliver to Bristol, New Hampshire and Portland Maine to do the New Hampshire and Maine Marathons.

Keith was with me two Octobers ago when I first completed a back-to-back marathon weekend, in Hartford, CT and Atlantic City, NJ. The high level of agony, pain and suffering must have enticed him as he was all too quick to accept for this year. So off we went to New England, leaving on Thursday Oct. 1 with a stopover in Cornwall. On the way to New Hampshire on Friday we stopped in Burlington, VT. Weather was awesome as we had lunch on an outdoor patio at an Irish pub downtown. Of course since we were preparing for a weekend of running we had nothing to drink (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Lunch done it was onto New Hampshire.

Although the trip to the east coast 2 years ago was "inpsirational" this one was completely different. The pasta dinner reminded me of my New Mexico experience, home made pasta dinner with all local volunteers in a a small Mason Hall. Very cozy. Off to the liquor store for cheap booze and then back to the hotel for an early night.
We woke up to pouring rain. A stop at Starbucks for coffee anf off to the start line.

The goal: start slow. There was a lot of running ahead of Keith and I. So what do I do? Start fast!! I've been battling a sore knee and bronchitis the last 6 weeks, so as I started I felt pretty good, so off I go! Plus it was cold and wet, the perfect incentive to get it over with ASAP. Of course there was just one small problem...HILLS! Which are not conducive to running quickly. Add in the fact that Keith has mentioned that due to the small field there was a good chance of maybe winning an age-group award caused me to go out a wee bit too fast.

Regardless of what Kevin says, we tried to pace ourslves well, but as usual failed miserably. As hilly as he couse was I went through the half at 1:41, still way behind Kevin, but not far ahead of Oliver. I thought the hills were supposed stop at halfway, they only got worse. With 6k to go (for me) the heavens opened up.Boy did it rain hard, just to add insult to injury. I finished about 8 minutes behind Kevin (as usual) in 3:23 and about 20 minutes ahead of Oliver. Overall a good day considering the conditions and the course but then again we sill another one to do.

Apparently Keith awoke on Sunday morning in South Portland, ME dreading the arrival of the second half of our adventure. Oliver was merely concerned. I was looking forward to it...don't know why, but the fact I survived the absolutely dreadful conditions of New Hampshire caused me to realize that Maine would not be a problem...or would it? The day dawned overcast with a temperature of about 13 degrees C. Considering that a resounding thunderstorm woke us up the night before we were counting our blessings. We arrived at the race site no problem, and while walking to the start-line porta-potties we heard some guy in a truck yell out, "The traffic's backed up to the Interstate!" We looked over and were a little surprised to see The Joker behind the wheel. Yeah, a dude with The Joker makeup on...little did we know this would foreshadow a very eventful encounter Keith would have with him very, very soon.

Yeah, with about a mile to go I looked up and there was the Joker running in full garb about 100 yards ahead of me. So I figured I can't let him beat even after 84k. When I was about 10 yards behind him my mind convinced me to stop a for a quick break. Once I got going again I eventually caught upto him with about 1/2k to go passed him and said to him "way to go Joker, but I can't let you beat me". And so I finished as strong as possible thanks to the Joker. Once I saw Kevin as the end, who couldn't stop talking about how great he felt (barf), we waited for Oliver to arrive. Oliver didn't dissapoint coming in at 4:02.

Keith just doesn't like anyone who differs from his (old) opinion, so if he feels like crap, we all have to! Just kidding. I was surprised at how well I felt, but that's what happens when you start out nice and easy and work your way into a comfortable pace. The course was hillier than I expected, but turned out to be very scenic, as we ran through a lot of nice neighbourhoods. Meet some incredible people along the way: Kyle from Ohio, who also did the double; Mike from Illinois (another back-to-backer); two guys from Nova Scotia, Grant and Charlie; Cowboy Jeff, who Keith and I know from Atlantic City two years ago (we ate our pre-race dinner with him); and of course all the wonderful volunteers, spectators who cheered us on (especially the ones in New Hampshire holding up the signs); and my running compatriots, Keith and Oliver, who have had me in stitches all weekend.

Another thing that stood out for me was wearing my Marathon Maniacs shirt, brought lots of encouragement from not only all the manaics out there but the 50 states club. What an inspiring bunch of runners. Not to mention Kevin and Oliver. Great Weekend guys.