Pete Tanguay

Had a good race on a course with a lot of hills.  On the bright side, there were a lot of up and downhills so if you managed it right you can balance it out a bit.  Set out to run 9 minute miles as long as I could and that was basically through mile 15.  At mile 15 Lynn met me and handed me a cliff bar and a running bottle filled with Amino Vital drink.  I did not feel like I was struggling at that point.  However, as I ate my cliff bar and got some hydration, I was also heading up a pretty good hill and it seemed to take a lot out of me.  As you can see from the Garmin, I slowed on this hill (which is understandable) but after this I could never get my pace back (which is not).  I never gave up, kept working the race but basically saw an immediate 1 minute 20 second difference / mile for the next 7 miles.  I don’t really  understand this.  I want to learn what I can do in this situation.  I’ve learned a lot and am in a position to figure this one out.  In the past I would get discouraged, try to run faster, burn up more energy and hit a wall.    I did not hit a wall.  I’ve really learned about my nutrition and hydration needs in the races and feel I have good plans for that.  It was quite a bit hotter during these miles but really it was my legs not running the pace I wanted them to run.  I dropped another minute per mile in miles 23-25, taking a little longer at the aide stations to make sure I got plenty of hydration.  As I got in to the last mile it was down and up with net up and I ran real strong.  Nobody passed me in the last 4 miles and I passed a number of people. 

It’s so great to have running friends.  Ran with Claudia for the first 15 miles and when I slowed, she kept to the plan and finished in 4:06.  Frank was a bit behind us, then caught us and then dropped back with some cramping.  Here’s part of our group, some registered for the full and some the half. 

I finished 41 overall out of 102 men in the race and third out of 9 in my age group.  One of these I passed in the last mile which is nice to know.  On the enjoyable side, this was a good race.  I ran what my body could run and enjoyed the beautiful course, even the hills.  I am more interested now in learning about my running than what time I finish.  This is my 4th marathon in 5 months and I am ready for a break and then some work on specific things.  I ran again for Mavia, my NF hero and it has become a very meaningful thing to wear my NF shirt and to be a part of her and her family’s struggle with NF.  Frank also had his NF shirt on and it was great to run together for the time we were able. 

My official finishing time was 4:14:50, which is a bit longer than my garmin.  They did not use chips so part of it was this, although we were very close to the front, and part of it was when we went through a long tunnel and I lost satellite, I think. 

The night before the marathon they had a pasta dinner for the entire NF endurance team and as part of the evening I gave Mavia a 2009 Chicago Marathon medal with her name engraved on the back along with the words – “Life is a marathon.  Run hard, finish strong”.  The story behind this medal is that I ran the last 20 miles of the Chicago Marathon in 2009, pacing a friend Melissa and we ran in honor of Teresa, a running friend who was undergoing chemotherapy for non-Hodgkins Lymphoma at the time.  Thankfully, Teresa’s chemo is over and she is now back out running with us.  At the end I got a medal, even though I wasn’t officially in the race.  They just gave me one as I came across the finish line.  I decided to have Teresa’s name engraved on it with Melissa’s finishing time when we were all at the Nike store and Melissa was getting hers engraved.  Later another running friend of mine, Curt, who also unofficially ran the Chicago marathon (long story) gave me his medal as he has 9 of them already. 

The weekend before the marathon I was trying to decide what I could give Mavia when I met her and I realized I needed to give away my marathon medal again.  So I had her name engraved on the back along with the words “Life is a Marathon – Run Hard, Finish Strong”.  Below is the video of her receiving the medal from my daughter Madeleine after I told the story of the medal.  This is really what the 2010 Little Rock Marathon was all about for me. 

Chicago Marathon Medal Presentation to Mavia Evenson

Another marathon behind me.  It was a good race, perfect weather day and the added element of running for the NF Endurance team was great.  Children and adults with NF have such a challenge and yet I have to say that they are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.  They have a wonderful support network and are out there cheering for eachother, helping those running on their team, etc.  I met my NF Hero, Mavia Evenson, and her brother and parents on Saturday night at the NF Pasta dinner and it was a great time.  Here they were at the starting line – Mavia, Maddox and Mommy (Karrie)

And then one with Ryan as well.

I ran the first 8 miles with the 3:45 pace group and had planned to run the first half with them if I could stay with them without burning up too much in the first half.  Going up an incline about mile 8 I let them go and kept a pace I felt comfortable with through the first half.  I finished the half at 1:54, about 3 minutes behind where they finished it.  Curt and Brad met me just after this point and began running with me.  This is where the hills started and this is where the work started.  I had planned to keep all of my miles under 9 min/mile and as I started going up these hills it was taking a lot of energy to keep this pace and I fell back.  The hills were pretty much mile 13.3 or so to mile 17 and even though I had lots of help, I could feel the legs getting tired. 

From a fuel and hydration standpoint I had an excellent race, always had plenty and felt good.  It’s just that by mile 18 or so my legs just couldn’t keep the pace I wanted.  I kept telling Curt and Brad to run a specific pace and I’d catch them and try to hang with them but the legs wouldn’t go.  I worked on different form issues, etc. to try to get back to this pace but couldn’t.  Here’s Curt and I coming in to the finish, my awesome pacer and you can still see that he is carrying the “fuel”.

All in all it was a good race.  I didn’t expect a PR as I hadn’t trained as seriously for this race.  I decided to run it after my 2 marathons in Nov and Dec last year, figuring I was already into my training and I did some long runs but not really a full training schedule.  Mostly 16’s a 20 and a 23, although my 23 mile training run was real slow.  The positives I take from the race are that I have finished another marathon, my 7th, I worked hard through the race and kept going, I finished strong and I ran for something more than a time on a clock.  As a result, we have a new family in our lives that we’ll have as friends forever and that makes it all worthwhile.  And here are the details.

My official time was 4:11:53, I stopped a couple times to try and stretch my legs to get me moving faster and my garmin must have stopped.

Added a new twist to the marathon day experience.  After the marathon I spent the afternoon at one of Madeleine’s dance competitions and then played a team tennis match at 6pm.  Fortunately you use different muscles playing tennis than running but the legs were pretty shot!  We won our match 6-0, 6-2.

Out of nowhere I had the urge to join the NF Endurance Team and add a fundraising dimension to my Little Rock Marathon experience.  Wow, has this been awesome.  I now have a whole new family in my life, people that seem to be such nice people and I haven’t even met them yet.  I set up a fundraising page and started raising money to help find a cure for NF.  If you are reading this, please stop right now and check out this page.  I challenge you to be able to read it and not become a member of my team.  I think that is about as possible as eating just one Lay’s potato chip.  Let me know if you are able to do it. 

Here is my introductory note to Mavia, my NF hero, in her online guestbook. 

I’ve decided to run for a reason at the Little Rock Marathon. Here is my fundraising site - and copied here so it will be here forever after Active.com takes it down when the event is over.  If you are reading this before March 7, 2010, please join the team by clicking on either of the images below.

Last year I had the privilege to help crew for a friend from Northern California who was racing (not just riding) his bike across the country in this race called Race Across America (RAAM). I witnessed an unbelievable demonstration of will, determination, strength, teamwork and achievement. Oceanside to Annapolis in 11 days. It was a riveting experience that I’ll never forget.

Through RAAM, I made some lifelong friendships, and not only with the others on the crew I was racing with. I also met Lesley and Connie Oslica, who were crewing for one of the NF Endurance teams. I had never hear of RAAM, NF or the NF endurance team. Now I know them all very well.

NF stands for Neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder usually diagnosed in childhood that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body. The NF endurance team is focused on raising awareness for this disease through running, biking, swimming or whatever it takes to pull together the ultimate team who will find a cure for NF. A cure for children like Katie Oslica and over 2 million others around the world.

I am running for the NF endurance team at the Little Rock marathon on March 7th. I hope you will run with me through your donation to support our team as we raise funds to support research to find a cure for NF. At dinner tonight with Lesley and Connie I learned that an initial research grant of $25,000 often grows to over $100,000 as the researchers continue their research through additional funding in hopes of finding a cure for NF.

You can watch the short video below to learn some facts about NF and how your donation provides hope for those living with NF. I would like to raise $2500 through 100 supporters with an average donation of $25. Although some of you may choose to give more, I believe in the power of numbers to raise awareness and make a significant contribution.

If you don’t step up I may not get my 100 supporters so you might say I am counting on you to finish the race. Please join me if you can. I’ve done the training and will run the 26.2. Knowing I have your support will make a difference to me and hopefully to millions of others.