Steve Prefontaine

"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into an exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more." Steve Prefontaine

"I don't just go out there and run. I like to give people watching something exciting."  S. P.

I had read and watched a movie about the life of this famous runner months ago, Steve Prefontaine. I've been slowly getting to know some of the legends in running and have found a lot of joy and fascination learning about the great talents in the sport I am enjoying for recreation. This is a must movie, it is good, but it also teaches you about someone with amazing drive to be the best.

A bit about Steve from the website:

Steve Prefontaine grew up in Coos Bay, OR and graduated from Marshfield High School in 1969. He was a two-time State Cross County Champion, two-time State 2-Mile Champion and also won the State Championship in the mile his senior season. Also during his senior season, Steve established a new National 2-mile record with a time of 8:41.5 at a meet in Corvallis and that record stood for many years. He capped his high school career by placing 4^th in the 3-mile at the AAU National Championships, where he was chosen to compete internationally on the USA team.

Steve went on to the University of Oregon to run under the legendary Bill Bowerman. During his years at Oregon he won three National Collegiate Cross County Championships and four 3-mile/5,000-meter Collegiate Outdoor titles. In 1972, Steve won the Olympic Trials 5,000-meters race in front of a standing room only crowd of adoring fans at Hayward Field in Eugene. Later that fall, Steve represented the United States at the Summer Olympic Games of Munich, Germany where he finished 4^th in one the most stirring 5,000-meter races in Olympic history. At the time of his tragic death in May of 1975, he held every American distance record from 2,000-meters to 10,000-meters.

Eugene Marathon

  

2012 Course Description

The 26.2 mile race starts on the corner of 15th Avenue and Agate Street, in front of historic Hayward Field. The course runs the first 9 miles through south Eugene around Amazon Park and the University of Oregon. Runners then cross the Knickerbocker footbridge and split from the half marathoners as the full marathon participants turn east (right) down the canal path toward Springfield. The 5 mile Springfield loop takes participants by Island Park and Springfield High School and ends with a scenic pass by the University of Oregon’s Autzen Stadium and the baseball park on Leo Harris Parkway.

Participants return to the Eugene bike paths where they enjoy approximately 9 miles of scenic river trails and run in and out of six parks.  Along the way, runners will cruise by Alton Baker Park, Owens Rose Garden and Skinner Butte. In total, participants run through or along 12 parks before they reach the finish line, through the arches of Powell Plaza and the final stretch on the track at historic Hayward Field. No doubt, this is one of the prettiest and flattest certified marathons in the country!

2012 Race Details

• Start Time: 7:00 a.m.; Sunday, April 29th
• Start Location: Corner of 15th & Agate
• Finish Location: Hayward Field Track

Stats for the race:

Bib 2827

MARSHA MONSON

Marathon » Riverton, UT

Finished 05:22:52

• Overall 2,150th of 2,357
• Female 944th of 1,072
• F55-59 26th of 35

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Bib 2433

ANGELINE WHITWORTH PACE

Marathon » Draper, UT

Finished 04:46:30

• Overall 1,846th of 2,357
• Female 750th of 1,072
• F45-49 69th of 117

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Desire

Napoleon Hill says, "Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything."

When I feel this I go out and get it done. Some kind of a force drives me. Accomplishments I never felt I did as a youth..... I have found some thing I am good at if I practice, practice, practice.

Salt Lake Half Marathon

A beautiful morning for this race! Spent a fun over nighter with Teota and Liz at T's apartment in the Gateway. This gave us sleep-in time before the race since no long drive. 

Teota on Trax

We walked right from the apartment over to the Trax station where we waited for some of T's friends from work. The plan today is that she was going to help her friends run their first half marathon. This meant she was going to be going slower with them.

Marj, Liz and Diane.

As always when we arrive at a race we look for friends and other Marathon Maniacs. We found both. MM were well represented at this race with a lot of local members.










Here are the stats for friends running the marathon:

656

Sue

Mantyla

SLC

UT

USA

57

F

03:56:05

03:56:31

244

44

2

228

Jonathan

Crampton

Pl Grove

UT

USA

50

M

03:55:42

03:56:25

240

197

19

Here are the stats for the half marathon finishing times:

3570

Marsha

Monson

Riverton

UT

USA

F 50 TO 59

56

F

02:39:22

02:42:04

3008

1743

120

2611

Elizabeth

Gotter

Orem

UT

USA

F 30 TO 34

32

F

02:39:23

02:42:05

3009

1744

396

2206

Teota

Dangel

SLC

UT

USA

F 40 TO 49

48

F

03:12:34

03:15:55

3401

2049

355

4404

Diane

Teece

SLC

UT

USA

F 70 TO 79

72

F

03:04:44

03:07:26

3360

2016

3

3630

Marjorie

Mullaly

Springville

UT

USA

F 70 TO 79

70

F

03:39:59

03:43:24

3478

2115

4

1644

Teresa

Baker

SLC

UT

USA

F 40 TO 49

48

F

02:18:16

02:20:12

2270

1220

195

4791

Bob

Baker

SLC

UT

USA

M 50 TO 59

50

M

01:50:14

01:50:48

641

408

50

3195

Lauren

Kwasniewski

SLC

UT

USA

F 25 TO 29

25

F

02:33:53

02:37:16

2880

1656

342

Carbo-loading

Fill 'Er Up

Carbo-loading can help you race without hitting the wall—as long as you do it right. 
By Dimity McDowell 
From the November 2011 issue of Runner's World

Most runners know they should eat pasta, rice, potatoes, or other high-carb foods before a half or full marathon. After all, carbs are a great source of energy, and you need a lot of energy to cover 13.1 or 26.2 miles. But many runners are far less clear on how many carbohydrates they should eat and when to start loading up. "When I go to marathon expos," says Monique Ryan, R.D., author of Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes, "I'm amazed how many people haven't carbo-loaded properly. Runners train so hard and then arrive with a huge handicap." Here's what every runner needs to know about carbohydrates, so you can toe the line fully fueled and ready to go.

CARB SCIENCE
When you eat a bowl of spaghetti, most of the carbs are stored as glycogen in your muscles and liver. Glycogen is your body's most easily accessible form of energy, but it's not the only source, says Ryan. During a half or full marathon you burn both glycogen and fat. But the latter is not as efficient, which means your body has to work harder to convert it into fuel.

When you run out of glycogen during a race you hit "the wall." Your body has to slow down as it turns fat into energy. Benjamin Rapoport, a 2:55 marathoner, is intimately acquainted with the wall. The Harvard M.D. student (who has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from MIT) hit the wall so hard at the 2005 New York City Marathon he decided to study how to avoid it in the future (his research was published in PLoS Computational Biology in October 2010). "Proper carbo-loading—or filling your muscles to the brim with glycogen—won't make you faster, but it will allow you to run your best and, if you race smartly, avoid the wall," he says.

CHOOSE WISELY
Which carbs should you load up on? "I'm very utilitarian," says Rapoport. "I eat rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner." But runners don't need to be so restrictive. Tortillas, oatmeal, bread, pancakes, waffles, bagels, yogurt, and juice are all easy-to-digest options. Many fruits are high in carbs but are also high in fiber—and too much can cause stomach trouble midrace. "Bananas are a low-fiber choice," says sports nutritionist Ilana Katz, R.D. "And you can peel apples, peaches, and pears to reduce their fiber content." She also gives her clients permission to indulge in white bread and baked potatoes without the skin since both are easily digested.

Ryan suggests steering clear of high-fat foods—like creamy sauces, cheese, butter, and oils—as well as too much protein. Both nutrients fill you up faster than carbs and take longer to digest, she says. Pick jam—not butter—for your toast, tomato sauce in lieu of alfredo sauce on your pasta, and frozen yogurt instead of ice cream for dessert.

HOW MUCH?
You can't completely fill your muscles with glycogen from just one meal, "which is why you should start carbo-loading two or three days before your race," says Ryan. Since you're running very few miles, the glycogen will accumulate in your muscles. At this point, 85 to 95 percent of your calories should come from carbs, says Katz. Ryan recommends eating about four grams of carbs for every pound of body weight (for a 150 pound runner that's 600 grams—or 2,400 calories—of carbs per day). During his research, Rapoport developed an even more precise formula, which runners can access at endurance calculator.com, that factors in variables including age, resting heart rate, VO2 max, and predicted finishing time. It's important to keep in mind that you're most likely not eating many more calories per day than you were during the thick of your training—it's just that more of those calories are coming from carbs.

Gunnison Valley Spring Run-off

This race was a great little get-a-way for Jan and I this weekend. The predicted weather for this race did not look good, rain and snow. When we arrived at the Gunnison Rose Inn Bed & Breakfast it was very cloudy - threatening rain. We checked in, the place smelled like fresh baked cookies and they were in the common area for the guests. Jan and I headed up to our room, the Lodge Room, and then unpacked and laid out all our race gear.

There were two other couples staying at the B&B for the race. We all met in the common area and had a nice conversation about running. One couple was from Ogden and the other from Rexburg, Idaho. Jan and I were setting up his Garmin display so that it would be ready for race day. We all left together to go to the free dinner provided by the race. It was a spaghetti dinner with salad, bread, jello and cookies. At our table 2 of us were running the half marathon, 1 running the full marathon, and 3 running the 10K. 

Race morning when we woke up I was extremely happy when I looked out the window and saw no rain or snow. I'd brought a varied selection of running clothes because of the uncertainty of the weather, so now it was time to choose what I was going to wear for the run. I wanted to be careful not to overdress because I get hot when I run. With this type of weather I spend time second guessing, not wanting to be cold either. I ended up getting it right. Pink short sleeve shirt with black arm warmers,
Thanks to all who helped make the Spring Run-Off such a great success in 2012!

2012 Gunnison Marathon Race Results   Half 78 333 Christy Flowers 2:32:29 10K 9 379 Andy Flowers 0:58:14 10K 33 374 Jan Monson 1:29:08 Full 177 Darrin Nelson 5:08:22 Half 79 306 Marsha Monson 2:38:10 10K 20 363 Kristin Nelson 1:10:18