A Runner's Ramblings: Volume 20; 2nd Edition
39.3 miles run in 2025 races
Race: Wilmington Marathon
Place: Wilmington, NC
Miles from home: 1318 miles
Weather: 50 degrees,100 % humidity,
This recap was supposed to happen a decade ago.
I've been sitting at a marathon in 49 states since January of 2016 when I ran the Louisiana Marathon in 3:06 just a few weeks after breaking my hand I don't have the energy right now to go into everything that has gone wrong in the world in the past decade but I think if you even follow me remotely you understand what I'm talking about. From a horrible election, to a global pandemic, to more personally, my own loss of my mother and then two knee surgeries, 10 years can go by rather quickly. And that's how it gets to just a few months before I turn 50 still needing to get North Carolina as a state in which I've run a marathon in to complete running a marathon in every state.
(I will be writing something about that specific journey later but this is going to be a recap about this particular race itself.)
In January, just a little over six months after my first one-mile run recovering from a partial knee replacement, I had been riding a streak of consistently faster races. Any runner knows however, you don't get faster always. While doing a heavy training cycle that included a10, 11, and 12 mile run in a row I felt some major discomfort in my right calf muscle. As I had a 30K race coming up a week later I decided to take time off from running. This 18.6 mile race would not only be the longest I had run in three years but would also serve as my longest run for my marathon coming up on the last day of February. It was extremely important.
Unfortunately, that race went very poorly causing me to pull out with about four miles left in the run. There was nothing particularly bad about that day other than it was simply one of those days where you don't have the energy to go further. My calf had moderately cooperated but I figured doing the final loop would be nothing but bad. I figured I could get one more 15 miler in in about which might suffice in getting to my goal.
A week later I found myself in Milan on a wonderful vacation to watch the Winter Olympics. But on my very first run there I had pain shoot through my quad on my left leg from the very first step I took. There's no rhyme or reason of why this happened as I had no trauma or felt any pain on a small run two days prior. Even a few massages while I was in Italy couldn't abate the pain. I had two more massages in quick succession after I got back to the United States which made it feel slightly better but unresolved. I had a great deal of trepidation even up until the day before the race in North Carolina.
I was able to get one quick half hour massage that evening which seemed to actually do a great deal for the bunching of all the muscles in my quad. I nevertheless had a very fitful night of sleep wondering if I should even be attempting this 26.2 mile endeavor.
My goal was not to only check off the state but to also finish under four hours, something which had never been a problem before. I began doing all the calculations necessary to see what it would take to get me to that finish line hopefully under that four hour mark. I finally came to the conclusion that even if it took me 5 or 6 hours I would walk it if I had to. That would mean that I would also miss my flight back home but knocking out a marathon here in North Carolina was something I needed to do now. Getting it under four hours was something I could always come back and do later.
Race Morning:
The Wilmington marathon is a point to point race. With a fair amount of runners running one of the various events, it requires a shuttle service that leads to a bottleneck at the starting point on Wrightsville Beach. I had noticed that the race actually mentioned if possible you should get your own transportation so I booked myself an Uber for the next morning at 5:45 AM. Even though the race didn't start until 7 a.m. I knew I was probably going to run into traffic. (Mostly because there were a million signs saying that if you got on the last shuttle at 6 a.m. they couldn't guarantee you would get there prior to the gun firing.)
It ends up I planned perfectly because even though we did run into a lot of traffic and the 12 mile drive ended up taking nearly 45 minutes, I got to spend that in the comfort of the back seat of a nice car rather than jammed into one of the shuttle buses that the race provided. No shade at the race at all. Just this was a much nicer way to go.
My Uber had to drop me off short of the starting area but it was just about a half mile walk to where all the runners were gathering. I hadn't been to a race this size in nearly a decade. The energy was palpable. The runners were buzzing. It felt like a race day.
I queued up to get into line to go to the bathroom and more or less had about three minutes to spare when I stepped out of the porta potty. I made my way towards the start line with butterflies in my stomach. When I had woken up that morning I was the least excited I think I have ever been to run a race but for some reason I was feeling much better as the countdown to the marathon began.
First 6 miles
The first 6 miles of this race were enjoyable from a runner standpoint who simply wants to go more or less one direction and not have to think. After 1/3 of a mile running through the streets of the beach town of Wrightsville Beach, we made a right turn and started heading along a “stroad”, that ohh so American combination of street and road. Many lanes of asphalt leading to strip malls, office parks, car dealerships and everything else. The bane of any urban planner who prioritizes pedestrianism. This is not exactly a scenic run per se but for the most part I was fine with that. As long as I didn't have to think about where to go I was happy. Other than the occasional rude runner who was more concerned about advancding five feet and not looking who they were cutting off, didn't even have to watch my surroundings.
My first mile surprised me being right around eight minutes because it felt a lot easier. I've run a few marathons where my overall pace ended up being eight minutes per mile but that was usually because something bad happened in the last 10K that had me walking. I had never attempted to run a marathon at this pace from the start and this felt pleasant. Then again, it was the first mile!
Even as the 3:30 pace group (which is essentially an 8 minute mile drew) further and further away from me as each mile went by, I saw that my pace continued to be slightly under 8 minutes every mile. I tried not to get too excited here early in the race.
I could say that this first 10K was rather uneventful if not for the fact that at one point a runner in front of me began to veer off of the coned area in which we were supposed to be running and almost into oncoming traffic. He tilted and ran almost disagonally sometimes barely missing the side mirros of cars that were slowing to avoid him. I couldn't figure out what he was doing and yelled at him a few times to be careful.
I finally ran up to him and could see that he was in distress but didn't want to put hands on a stranger. I got on his right and gently nudged him back into the masses of people. It was clear that he was in not doing well. The air was saturated with 100% humidity, even if it was only 50 degrees. I realized this could have easily been me with how bad I perform in the muck.
As I got him towards middle of the pack a few other runners took it upon themselves to kind of guide him completely to the side and sit him down. When they caught back up to me I asked if he was OK and they said it seemed like he might have been a diabetic who was low on blood sugar. I can only hope that he got the attention that he needed. Nevertheless, a wonderful display of humans caring for humans happened right there as runners stopped their own run to help a stranger.
To the Half-marathon:
The first hill of any note came when the road we were running on took us up and over it on an overpass. It slowed me down a touch but I made-up for it on the other side with the downhill. My watch showed another 8-minute mile. We ran straight a bit more as the clouds never stopped and the humidity reigned. One guy in front of me has a luscious mane of hair and I could not figure out he possible was not drenched. I was running my hand over my head to alleviate it from about six ounces of sweat every time my fingers passed through my hair. We made a left turn and once again got on a bit of a highway which was blocked off for us runners on one side but still quite active with traffic on the other. Again not exactly that scenic but it served its purpose. I was impressed how many people were out on this lonely strecth cheering us on!
I was again pleasantly surprised as the miles went by and my pace seemed to stay steady even without a great deal of effort. I felt surely I was slowing down but instead it was those around me speeding up. The 3:30 pace group was now out of sight. No idea what they were doing
My pace dipped a smidgen as we left the highway and went up an exit which was decidedly uphill. I had forgotten about this part when looking at the map the night before. It was a little bit of a surprise. Another nice thing about running at this pace is that when I was running more to my speed I rarely had other runners around me. Here with both half-marathon and a marathon going on I had constant companions to either feed off of their energy or follow them. However, as we got past the 10 mile mark you could tell who the half- marathoners were because they suddenly began to pick up the pace. I had to tell myself that not only was I not racing anyone, I definitely wasn't raising those who were going to be done in less than a 5K.
To Mile 20:
I have been doing math all along and realized that if I hit the half marathon about where it looked like I would, I could average a 10-minute mile for the last thirteen miles and still get under four hours. I didn't want that to happen but nice to know I had that cushion. I crossed under the half marathon sensors in 1:47:37 or an 8:12 pace. I also passed about 100 feet away from my Airbnb which I had said pre-race would be calling to me like the sirens of old to crash on the rocks of comfort and give up here if I was having a bad day. Fortunately while I was absolutely lacquered in sweat from the humidity I was somehow still feeling like this would not require me to crawl to the finish.
We completed another straight line through downtown Wilmington and another area of not-so-scenic traffic on one side. Then at mile 15 we began a very twisty-turny running segment. Sometimes we ran on the city streets and sometimes on the path that surrounded Greenfield Lake. I'm glad that the running crowds thinned a little bit here because there was ample room for one or two runners on these paths but not much more side by side. The crowds and fans, however, grew even more!
I ran a series of miles either one second over or one second under 8 minutes per per mile mile here. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and all of a sudden the nine-minute-mile to come out of the woods and drag me to the bottom of the lake. But somehow I kept putting up consistently good miles. We crossed underneath sensors around mile 20 and then did a little turn around and for the rest of the race we would be heading back towards the finish. Heading back to the finish always does something to me psychologically, even if it it thirteen miles away. I have done run after run in my life where as soon as I turn around, it is like a different runner takes over my body. I was fairly certain there would be no explosion of speed here today but I could feel success in my shoes. (I had actually sprinkled my mother and father's ashes on them as I have done in every race since I began running again. I take those ashes with me every where I go so my parents can "See" the places I visit. Some might find that odd. That's ok.)
To The Finish:
After going over eight minutes for my 20th mile, my 21st mile put me just under at a 7:59. I struggled to keep my pace as we weaved around the lake and the hill between miles 23 and 24 was exceptionally cruel. I actually stopped and walked for about a five count before starting again. I could see now that barring a huge cramp or collapse that I was going to succeed in all that I had set out to do today. I now simply put on blinders and didn't care who I was passing or who was passing me.
The miles became a blur and I focused on a point ahead of me on this straight line finish. I had completely forgotten to pack running sunglasses for this run which might be something I have only done a handful of times in all 167 marathons. Fortunately there was no sun to be seen (it popped out about an hour later) and no squinting was needed on my part.
We had a little bit of an uphill to contend with on the 25th mile and after not walking that at all I got to the top and simply had to take a 10 or 15 second break. I don't know how much that did for my energy or if I hadn't stopped anything would have happened detrimental but I did it regardless. Cheering crowds told me "You've got this!" and I wanted to mindmeld with them and tell them "I know I do."
I gingerly went down the last hill with about half of a mile to go before really locking in as the ample crowds, which had been along the entire course, began to fervently cheer on all the runners. I actually even laughed at the first original marathon sign I had seen in years. (It referenced Prison Mike from The Office.)
In the last quarter mile with the end around the corner I began to pick up the pace. A woman who had just passed me didn't affect me at all and I had no desire to beat her per se but I found that my pace soon put me in front of her again. I was running the fastest I had run all day as I streaked towards the finish line.
Cowbells ringing, people shaking signs, other runners in front of me, and feet from the finish I heard the announcer: "Dane Rauschenberg all the way from Minneapolis!"
I crossed in 3:36:07, hit my watch, and let out a huge breath. I was done.
I finished 364th overall which was my worst place finish since the Twin Cities Marathon 11 years ago where I placed 396th. In fact I've only placed worse in seven marathons in my life. You won't be surprised to learn that two of those were the Boston Marathon and one was the New York City marathon. But it didn't matter. I had finished one of the most challenging marathons in my life which had nothing to do with the course or the weather. It was the longest I had run in just shy of three years. It was also the 11th anniversary of the last sub-three hour marathon that I ran. I never thought at the time that it might be my actual last sub three hour marathon but it could easily be that way.
I made it back to my Airbnb and to the plane on time as well. An endeavor that I had first thought up over 20 years ago and then shuttled because I realized how many other people had done it, was now complete. It didn't end with the bang I was hoping it would but I would definitely say that this wasn't a whimper either.
My surgically repaired knee held up perfectly and the aches and pains in my legs, while still present, were not debilitating. I will definitely be taking a few days off of with no exercise before I get ready to, coincidentally, come back to North Carolina for 1/2 marathon here in less than three weeks.
The race itself was very well-run. Amazing course support from fans, ample aid stations, good organization. It is obviously fast as well as nearly 100 runners broke the 3 hour mark. Poor Jarred Beverly was the first runner to NOT make it under 3 hours, missing by just three seconds in 3:00:02. I sure hope
In the next few days I'll probably write a post containing all kinds of fun statistics as I am wont to do. Right now however, I finished a marathon in all 50 states before I turned 50 and have three months to knock out six more half marathons to do the same.
My membership in the 50 states completed and 50 states completed under 4 hours clubs has been stamped.
I am definitely pleased. And so damn sore.
