“Nobody’s Perfect” – Napa Valley Marathon ‘09

2009-03-03T01:49:00.000-08:00

The skinny:

Gun Time: 2:54:25

ChipTime: 2:54:19

Place: 21st overall, 3rd in age group

I'd run 21 marathons, including some of California's best races (Big Sur, San Francisco, Cal International, and Silicon Valley) but had never run a well-known race nearly in my backyard - Napa Valley. The 2009 edition of the Kaiser Pemanente Napa Valley Marathon was (again) selected by the Road Runners Club of America as its National Marathon Championships. Having recently run a PR (1:21:15) and placed 3^rd in my age group in the RRCA Regional Half Marathon Championships in San Francisco, it seemed like the perfect time to try Napa this year. I was in PR shape and ready to execute the perfect race. Besides, given the economy, 2009 looked like it ought to be a non-Boston year.

The Napa Valley Marathon is known for perfect weather. Per the website: "In 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008 the conditions were ideal: a slight tailwind for the entire course, cold air and sunshine." But unfortunately, the 2009 edition of the race was threatening to be a rain-and-wind fest. Polling the internet weather sites predicted rain and in-your-face headwinds somewhere between 10-20 mph with gusts up to 40 mph.

Weather aside, I was psyched and ready for the perfect weekend. I left home early Saturday morning and got to Napa a little after 9am. Checked into the Hilton Garden Inn (just next door to the race headquarters and expo). I had planned to do my usual day-before jog to preview the end of the course [it's always good to see what the finishing mile or two has in store for you]. Since I got there a little later than planned, I drove from the finish out to mile 16 and back as my course preview, then headed to Marie Calendar's to meet Sky for breakfast.

Sky is a runner I know from the Runner's World forums. Over the years, I've run a handful of races with other runners I've only met on-line – all of us targeting to break the 3-hour barrier. Putting together a "Team Sub-3" from the forum always adds a fun, social and cooperative element to racing. Sky and I were expecting to be joined by Gundy, Ted, Ed and, perhaps another forum runner or two.

The Expo

The Napa expo is pretty small as far as marathon expos go. Unlike Chicago, NY, or Boston expos which require lots of space in a convention center, it's held in the ball room of the Napa Marriott. What this expo lacks in quantity, it makes up in quality. Instead of giving you a plastic goodie bag that doubles as a sweat-check bag, Napa gave us our choice of either a backpack or a gym bag with the race logo on it. Instead of a myriad of Gatorade-like drinks to sample, Napa also has wine tasting on the patio.

Got a chance to chat with Dick Beardsley at the expo. I've seen Dick at several marathons. At the Austin marathon '05, we chatted a bit while we walked together from the race hotel to the expo. Surprisingly, Dick recognized me as soon as I walked up! He was signing his book "Duel In The Sun" about that famous Boston race in '82 versus Alberto Salazar.

Ron, Sky with Dick Beardsley.

I also got a chance to see Rich Benyo and Jan Seeley at the Marathon & Beyond booth. During a spurt of marathons I ran 2003-2005 I must've seen one or both of them almost every 2 or 3 months at an expo. I'm a big fan of their magazine and have a tradition of renewing only at expos. So, it was no surprise to Jan when I walked up to her and asked to extend my subscription. Rich and Jan are two of the nicest people you can find and I always enjoy seeing them at expos. I got the rundown from Jan about her new marathon in Champaign-Urbana (IL). She encouraged me to come and told me that they were arranging local accommodations with "host runners" for some of the runners from out-of-town – just let her know if I was coming. It's coming too quickly (April 11), so I might have to put that on my race "wish list" for another year. That also gives me time to talk my sisters (both U of I grads) into running it. It just so happens that Rich is the race director for Napa... he chastised me mildly for taking so long to getting around to running his race.

After yakking about all-things-running on the wine-tasting patio with Sky and Gundy for a while, we went to check out the expo speakers. Made it to the Beardsley keynote talk; a motivational talk who's centerpiece was his dramatic account of the famous Duel In the Sun with Alberto Salazar (Boston '82). Bought a charity raffle ticket at the very last minute and – won! Stayed to hear Napa vets talk about the "secrets" of running the Napa Valley Marathon Course.

The Pasta Dinner

I often skip the pasta dinner at marathons and try to hit a local restaurant, but since the dinner was so convenient I decided to drop in. I joined a table with a couple from Raleigh, NC, a couple from Texas, and a local family. The "local" family turned out to be KCBS meteorologist Mike Pechner and his wife and daughter. Mike was summoned to the mic and he gave us the latest on the expected weather. It sounded like it was going to be a tough, ugly day and we prepared for the worst.
Age-group-ace John Keston got up and sang an Irish tune with such remarkable clarity it was tough to believe he is really nearly 85. Is he a runner? Or a singer? Clearly, he's got an abundance of talent in both.

Video of John Keston singing at the pasta dinner

Early race day morning I decided not to catch the bus at the Hilton, but to drive to Vintage High School to board the buses. It was a good call – I was able to leave clean clothes and dry shoes in my car for after the race. I rode the bus next to Andrew-from-Davis who was running his second marathon. He was hoping to improve on a 4:20 at CIM.

The Race

The plan was for the Sub-3 Team from the forum to meet right in front of the Solage Spa sign about 50 meters in front of the starting line on the right. Shortly after I got there Sky joined me. We wedged ourselves into the crowd near the start line along with Ted, Eddie, Tokyo-Bob, and a few others aspiring for a sub-3 day (but no sign of Gundy). The plan Sky and I talked about was to go out comfortably (about 6:45 pace) and pick up the pace after the long, gradual incline at mile 19 and 20. The last several miles of the course are flat and include long straights that could be run fast as long as there is no head wind. Fortunately, as 7am came, the rain was light and the foretold headwinds hadn't yet materialized.

[Start line photos courtesy of Jean Pommier at Farther Faster]

Sky and I lead our small collection of sub-3 wannabes through the first few miles right on pace. Mile 1 was just a second over 7, and would be the last 7 minute mile I'd run for the day.
Mile 1 – 7:01
Mile 2 – 6:40
Mile 3 – 6:54

After about a mile and a half we were awakened by the first rolling hill. The hills during the early miles are not tough – just enough to make you shift gears a bit. Through the first 3 or 4 miles, Sky, who knew this part of the course, counted off the hills for us. Around mile 4, I let gravity do some of the work and coasted down one of the hills. That pick-up put me out in front of the pack I'd been running with, so I started trailing another runner who said he was targeting 6:30s. I kept yo-yoing on with Tak-from-San Jose. He would pass me on the up hills, but my long strides caught him on the down hills.

1) Sky Pile (2:56). 2) Sky and Monica-from-Seattle (3:03). 3) Jonathan Gunderson (3:03). 4) Ted Nunes (3:06). 5) Tak Fazita from San Jose (3:00:36)

I eased up to a group lead by Monica-from-Seattle around mile 5 or so. As we went by some spectators they yelled to Monica "you're the second woman!" The first woman (Mary Coordt) was 3+ minutes ahead. Mary is a previous winner of this race and not likely to be caught. Jason-the-Ironman joined us and we both encouraged Monica. She told me that she was hoping to break 3 hours, so I told her to hang with us and we'd get her in before the clock chimed 3. Jason was running his first marathon – without having swum and biked for hours first. After a mile or so, a flash of pink zoomed by us and, just like that, Monica was no longer the second woman.

Monica-from-Seattle (3^rd place woman at 3:03)

Running with Jason Cooke in white (2:59)

Catching Jenni-from-Tustin in pink

I felt like I was running pretty easily so I picked up the pace and matched strides with Jenni-from-Tustin. She looked very strong, so I asked her about her running background. Jenni said she'd been a steeplechaser in college but hadn't run a marathon since Boston '02. Together, we were running around 6:40, about 5-10 seconds a mile faster than Monica and Jason and began to gap them a bit after mile 9 or 10.

Miles 4 – 10 [6:44 average pace]

As Jenni and I closed in on the 13 mile marker, one of the spectators yelled "29^th place". We cruised through 13, I checked my watch. Since there was no half marker [note to race-director-Rich] I added ~40 seconds to get an estimate for the half split. "I'm guessing 1:28:05 – pretty decent" I said to Jenni. She said "yeah" then informed me she wasn't capable of talking much more. "You should catch some guys ahead". I wasn't quite sure if Jenni didn't want to slow me down or if she didn't want to have a chatty runner around. In either case, I let myself float ahead on a downhill that came just before the mile 14 marker.

Mile 13 – 1:27:25 total

Half marathon split – 1:28:05 (est)

After 14, I realized I had eased out in front of most of the sub-3 hopefuls and suddenly saw vast stretches of road with a few "dots" for runners ahead. The rain had picked up and I felt alone. I figured I was committed to this faster pace and would just have to see how it would end up…Besides – it was time to stop chatting and run a little harder. I caught up to 2 guys that were about 50 meters ahead of Jenni over the next mile, passed them, and kept moving up in place.

Just after mile 15 there was a group of spectators around Skellenger road intersection waiting for their runners. I was the only runner approaching the group and… what's this? They weren't cheering for me?! They seemed to be waiting patiently in the rain for "their" runner. So, I raised my arms like a rapper rousing the crowd ("Throw ya hands in the air…"). And they responded immediately by yelling and screaming for me as I ran through the intersection! Since spectators can go to multiple sections on this course to see their runners go by, I saw some of the same spectators several times. And – each time after that, they cheered loudly. I heard someone say "Go Woodside Guy!" and recognized a spectator, Folsom-area running machine and CIM pace team leader, Karyn Hoffman. We'd recently run the Woodside 50K together and Karyn gave me good advice about the up-coming American River 50.

Around mile 17 a guy in all black appeared on the horizon. Richard-from-SF and I ran together for a minute or two before he had to pull over and relieve himself. So I pressed on… During mile 18 I figrured that I had a little less than an hour left to run and it was really time to race. I could see a runner ahead and timed the gap between us at a minute-twenty. Could I catch him? Would I catch him? Winery after winery flew by as I ran agressively and clicked off splits in the 6:20's. I pretty much ignored the "hill" from 19.5 to 20.5 that the course experts had warned us about at the expo. When I came off the hill and got to aid station #10, I was only about 15 seconds behind him. A surprisingly-quick 6:19 split powered me passed him and within sight of a couple of other runners. I kept pressing the pace on the flats and miles 22, 23 and 24 were all under 6:35.

Caught up to Richard-from-SF (3:00:10) and David Louks (2:59:41) and Steve Fossel (2:55:59) and David "multicolor-shorts" Elger (2:55:10) during the last few miles.

By the time I was nearing the mile 25 mark, I knew a PR was in the making. I closed on another runner and wondered if I could bridge the couple hundred meter gap he had on me. As I got closer to David-with-the-multicolor-shorts I wondered... could he be in my age group? I've finished just out of the age group awards many times. Each time, I've always been able to think back to a stretch in the race where I might have been able to dig down deeper, push a little harder. I had a good race going, so why spoil it by getting 4th? I had to catch this guy! Who knows - he might be currently 3^rd! I came upon his shoulder just before the 25 mile marker and pushed hard to try to put some distance between us. Shortly after the turn onto El Centro I saw Synopsys co-workers Susan and Deloris jogging back down the course towards the 20 mile marker to cheer on Marie (another Synopsoid).

Mile 26 – 2:53:00

Mile 26 marker... Time to push, but I knew I couldn't quite get in in 2:53-something. I kicked as best I could and closed on the wheelchair racer I'd been yo-yoing with since the hills around 19. I caught him right at the line and smiled with satisfaction as I put the finishing touches on a very good run!
I had moved up about 8 or 9 spots in the last hour. The second half was 1:26:15 or so – almost a 2 minute negative split. I finished in 2:54:19 by my watch… I stood beaming in the finishing chute for several minutes and congratulated the rest of the sub-3 runners I'd met on the course as they came in. So many people ran well!

At the finish…

Post-race photo-ops:1) Ron & Sky. 2) Eddie Nolen (3:00:15) Sky, Ron. 3) Ron, Steve-from-Colorado and Jenni. 4) Ron and Ed-from-San Ramon

Post-Race

What a race! Until this race, the last 3 miles of Chicago '04 was my benchmark for how to finish out a race. That was my first sub-3 and I'd considered that 2:56:45 the perfect race on the perfect day. This race? This was 2 minutes and 26 seconds better than "perfect"!

After showering and changing clothes in the Vintage High locker room I headed to the gym and graciously accepted the complementary 15 minute finisher's massage. While relaxing on the massage table, a local Napa jazz band was playing a tune that I not only recognized, but knew every nuance of the trumpet part – Yep. That was a Sammy Nestico tune called Nobody's Perfect. I played that song as part of the award-winning West High jazz band so many years ago. I chatted with one of the guys from the band at a break and told him how much I had enjoyed hearing that song again after almost 3 decades.

I sat at the top of the bleachers with Gundy to relax to watch the awards ceremony. I wasn't the winner or top masters, but the results indicated that I had indeed captured the 3rd place in my age group. I immediately imagined proudly informing my kids that dad won third place at the National Champoinships! [Hmm. Was it ok to conveniently omit the fact that it was third for old dudes?!] Top prize for Peter Gilmore and Mary Coordt was – naturally – their weight in Napa wine. It was a kick to watch them place the runners on a life-size scale and balance it with cases of wine. While watching, I reflected on the day and the race. A strong closing 8 miles… A brand new PR… An almost perfect race. But... sigh.. maybe not quite. What if I'd run the first half a bit more aggressively? Say, 1:26? Or what if I'd gone out with the faster guys targetting sub-2:50? Would I have been able to hang? How much better can I run this fall after another good summer of training? It was a great race, but it could've been just a bit better.

I think I've learned something new in each of the 22 marathons I've run. As I was driving toward home, I reflected on how elusive that perfect performance is. Bob Beamon. Usain Bolt. Maybe they know what it feels like to perform near one's potential. I think I still have a way to go before I can say I've run the perfect race… It's hard to believe, but I'm still setting personal records at 45 years old. And - I'm not done yet! Sammy Nestico had it right – "Nobody's Perfect". But I won't let that stop me from trying!

Results and Articles

Peter Gilmore won easily. Lynn Robbin of SJFit beat her goal by 12 minutes (5:48). Fellow Synopsoid, Marie Nguyen, ran a great debut marathon (4:01). My early morning bus pal, Andrew Layson from UC Davis ran his first sub-4 (3:58).

One More Run

“Nobody’s Perfect” – Napa Valley Marathon ‘09