Hogeye Marathon Race Report

Pretender · Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 9:32 am

The Hogeye Marathon in Fayetteville, AR was this last Sunday. It was great. Perfect weather, supportive crowd, well run, etc.

The biggest bummer of the race had to be the guy who forgot about daylight savings time and started the race an hour late. To add insult to injury, he posted the fastest time (2:50) but it won't count since gun time added an hour. What a bummer! :(

I'm doing the full marathon in OKC in three weeks, so I just ran the half marathon at the Hogeye. I was a bit stunned at how much faster I ran than my training runs. I think two things contributed to this: fresh legs and the excitement of being in a race. I had put in 50 miles two weeks before, and so the week leading up to the Hogeye, I kept my mileage low and didn't run at all on Th, Fr and Sat. The Hogeye is VERY hilly, and having fresh legs meant I could charge down the hills. When your legs are dead, you tend to lean back and go down slowly to avoid the pounding. But I was able to gain ground on the downhills. I'm not in that super of shape, so needless to say I didn't charge UP any hills. Anyway, my pace for the half marathon was about 10 minutes. For me, that was fast. I can't wait to run it next year. I know I will be faster. I remember telling my wife after the race that I first got passed by old people, then by fat people, then by the fat old men, and finally gray haired fat ladies. I just started running in July. I remember running one mile and about collapsing. So it's all relative. I'm happy, but not content, with where I am today.

It makes me feel a bit better about OKC. Though I know not to attempt that pace for 26.2. But at the same time, I don't think that I will coming in at 6 hours either (let's hope not anyway!).

Surprises from the race? Simple. This was my first race, so I had no idea how much FUN they are. I never get to run with other people. It really motivated me and stoked my competitive nature. I can see why you guys/ladies enter so many races.

Lastly, the aid station with two miles left in the marathon was a table with cups full of beer. Michelob Ultra or something. I was a bit amazed at this. I can't imagine drinking beer and running a marathon at the same time. But then, it's probably only a mouthful and doesn't really do anything. Weird nonetheless.

I will report on the April 24th Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon when that's over with.

Pretender