Hi Dane,
I thanked you at the finish line of the Fargo Marathon last Saturday, but I want to express how thankful I am for your support in leading the 3:10 pace group to Boston qualifying times. Thinking back to my first marathon in 2004 that I finished in over 5 hours it seems crazy that I was even running with your group.
At the start line you told the group "if you stay with me you will be in Boston". That is something that I kept in my head for the entire race and told myself that I have to do everything to stay with you. I slowly dropped off the group just before the 25 mile mark, but knew I still had a chance to make it to Boston if I ran as fast as I could at the time. It was close, but I crossed the line with a time of 3:10:50. I don't know if anything will top the emotion that I experienced after finishing and knowing that I did it...I qualified for Boston.
I plan to run the Boston Marathon next year. I know that this accomplishment would not have been possible without your pacing, encouragement, energy and advice. I will never forget the experience of running in a group of runners chasing the same goal.
Again thank you Dane, keep it up and run on!!
- Darius K
Update:
Darius was kind enough to send me his picture from the finish. That is one happy guy!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvwic1G1_M3N21gquDBgtvgQJclzwhCQnFxOw6TEr8M0MdfdiDt7b18pcIA04ryr27pJ0Yz0jh1ZYZD1_-N9NnUpm2aovOmxo6cTe95m36mVd7wlVIzYOiFnAbku5uAYX1ZzwDCHFduSz/s400/P1000156.jpg)
For those of you who think they cannot improve dramatically over the course of a few marathons, look at Darius' rocketing up the time charts:
2004 Manitoba Marathon 5:02:59
2007 Manitoba Marathon 4:11:03
2008 Manitoba Marathon 3:32:37
2009 Fargo Marathon 3:10:50
Fantastic!!
2 comments:
Good job Dane! I need your support for a 3:30 BQ! Maybe I could persuade you to do a 3:30 pacer at a race someday? ms
Very cool, Dane!
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