stand tall, run easy!

Have a great day all. Can't miss.

You've done all the work, now go have some fun!

:D

See you at Mile 4 and beyond.

Can't wait to see you all out there!

I know nobody has posted but I've heard all the results and Great job.

Ginger, you ran awesome, especially on a very hard course. Go party.

12-miles and some strides, I think the shortest run any of the Zap guys did today. Felt great. 1 week to go until it's my turn in the 26.2 mile event.

Can't believe nobody got that course record on such a nice day. Sign me up for 2008, Maybe I can get Evan to run it and we can frig that record up.

What a perfect day for this course. I got 3rd place for 45-49, so I got a piece of the rock. Life is good. Rm 1031.

Keep running!

Looks like Hawaii just got a 6.3 mag. earthquake.

I enjoyed working with the Eden group at Mile 4 and then again at 22. Thanks much for hanging around Bob and Vanessa.

A hat tip too to the Accordion and Tamborine combo who were still polkaing at mile 22.5 when the last runner passed by around 3:00

Good going everyone we had a good day working stations 4miles and 22miles at mile 22 helped out the Coast Guard. How did Rae do? JC You will love Chicago and maybe at some point wish there was a hill.
Hope Autum is OK and not too close to the center.
Don Jean

It was so inspiring to see all of the efforts out there today. I got a whole different perspective being on the other side of the water stop, and hope you all had as much fun as I did. Lots of very solid runs today...congratulations!

An awesome performance by all runners today. I was so inspired that I've even considered trying another one myself.

I am so proud of Ginger. She had some trouble, yet she stayed positive the whole way. She really picked it up at the end and was able to finish strong. Yah Ginger!!!

You wouldn't believe all the compliments we got on our red EA t-shirts today. They are a hit:)

I like to start with the bad news: no BQ or PR
Good News: No DNF or PW (thanks go to Tom for both of those) AND I have never had so much fun in the last 6 miles of a marathon

Bay State Marathon is known as a relatively flat, easy course that many rely on to qualify for Boston. If you go to marathon guide.com you'll read a lot of scathing reports from several years ago about bad organization. That was definitely NOT our experience, we've never seen so much medical support (this ALMOST became a problem) the water stops are staffed by incredibley enthusiastic and energetic high school cross country teams, amazing traffic control, the course is very well marked (including a super sized pot hole with a 4" sign with 1" lettering nestled deep down in the crater that said "watch your step"). We stayed at the Doubletree and it was a 5 minute walk to the start. They gave all of the runners a late checkout so we were able to shower in our rooms after the run. The course starts with 3 miles on the western side of the Merrimack before you start a 10 mile loop around the river. This loop is done twice and then you have 3 miles on the western side of the river before you cross over the river again to end in a semipro baseball stadium. You enter the stadium at the third bas, run the outfield (backwards) and finish at home base.
We had our support crew of Alison and her long time friend Amy from Great Cranberry. Because we didn't know the course we only had 2 planned meetings: mile 1 to drop extra clothing and mile 12 to swap fuel belts. The weather was marathon perfect. The only complaint was a headwind every other 5 miles. We were clicking along sticking pretty close to our 9:15 pace ( a little under, never over)but at mile 15. I couldn't get any air in me and my heart rate skyrocketed. The heart rate was probably my usual panic to an asthma attack. Unfortunately I had tossed my inhaler to Ali, miles earlier. We stopped at 1 of 7 (?) medical places and asked if they had anything. Of course not, I should have been carrying mine. So we tried walking breaks, slowing the pace and had a loooong heart to heart about my quitting and Tom going on. At this point this vehicle that looks like a rent a car bus but says "Ambulance" on the side pulled up next to us and the driver looked deep into my eyes and beckoned me to come on board, didn't I really want to get on the bus. I owe Tom and a conversation with Jean Bell deep thanks for not doing it. After that we hobbled along walking, jogging, talking. Every time we passed a medical tent Tom would jump between me and the EMTs and say "Look away" Meanwhile he's chatting up everyone around us, giving away supplies to anyone who appears to be in need, having the time of his life. Someone even shouted, "Hey if you can talk that much . . ." a thought that has passed through my mind on several occassions but today, I really appreciated the humor and distraction. Then he started to calculate how many miles we have run together. At mile 23.5 the so called ambulance was stopped at a red light in front of us and I started to gesture and joke with Tom that I was hopping on. He kept jumping in front of me, putting his arms out "Look away" when we pulled beside it the driver opened the door again and beckoned, one last chance, but I could smell my finishers medal by then. When we ran (well, I'll call it a run)into the stadium they were blasting some song that caused Tom to break into his best PeeWee Herman dance impression, all the way around the bases. Too funny. So when I say we finished in around 4:20. It should be noted that Tom deserves 4:05 or better given that he was dragging a 140 pound anchor for 11 miles. More good news our legs feel pretty good given the slow pace but I have no voice. Maybe that's good news too, hmmm. So huge thanks to Tom, Alison and Amy. This is a really good race that I would recommend wholeheartedly.

Congratulations to Steve on your age group win and all the other Speedy E's who ran this weekend.

You know, I didn't get my sub 4, but I am still totally thrilled with my time of 4:11. That was the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life. I'm surprised I ran it as quickly as I did considering the course. That is one mother of a course I have to say. Karen is AWESOME! She could see that I was falling back pretty much once she started in at mile 12. I could tell she was concerned, even though she was trying to hide it. She tried to get me moving on Sargents, it just wasn't happeninng for me and that was O.K. with both of us. I told her on Butler Road I was just going to do my best and do whatever my body needed to do. This attitude took a lot of pressure off of me. I did a run/ walk from there, absolutely dead on my feet. Karen didn't push me to go faster she was just a listening ear and an encouraging voice right up until the finish. It's amazing how you can feel so good and crash so quickly. The thing that I'm the happiest about is that I kept a positive attitude. I think I'm finally beating the psychological aspect. My only concern out of all of this is that Judson might think he did something wrong in training me. Well, he's awesome and I think he's a perfect coach. I had a very difficult day, but I finished strong with a very respectable time, I must say.

Thanks for all of your support! Shannon and Frank, you guy's were A1!

What a day for a marathon! The weather was perfect and I felt really good:)) I have to say that one thing made the race for me an incredible race. That was the support of all the Eden folks many I reconized but can't put a name to but appreciate more than you know! Anyone who has run a race of any distance, be it a 5K or a marathon knows what it feels like to have encouragement along the way..IT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE. Thank You..Tom Kirby especially who was there at one spot and than down the road at another spot,and at the end lend me his jacket so I wouldn't freeze to death.. to the Eden members at the waterstops and one young lady who after mile 20 showed up every mile or so cheering me on...incredible..also, Peter Lodge and Newell Lewey on bikes way to go guys!!!...one other thing...I just couldn't catch Ryan King...Well done Buddy you did good...
Thanks again to everyone..
and as Steve says..
Keep on running..

Because today's was my first marathon, I had little solid footing to make realistic predications about my performance, I figured it would be an adventure that would give me a better idea of what to expect in the future.

My goals in increasingly speculative order were to:
1. Finish ... and I did finish without hurting myself too badly.
2. Finish in under 4 hours .... and I did, being the very last person to do so.
3. Finish in 3:45 and thus BQ ( I'm almost 55) .... I didn't, but that's Ok as this was the most speculative of the goals.

The story:
I felt pretty strong as the race got going and I was moving along pretty well with my heart rate in the low 80% range. I hit 10 miles at at the 3:45 pace that I thought I just might achieve and was still feeling great with lots of energy ..... same thing through mile 15, then somewhere in the mile 16-18 neighborhood my left hip and left knee started complaining and that complaint got more insistent during each mile covered.

My guess is that a combination of old age, the asphalt surface and the camber of the road all contributed to the problem. (The carriage roads with the forgiving surface and flat roads to run on have really spoiled me.)

From mile 20 on, even though I had plenty of energy left, it was painful to run uphill so I ended up walking often up the hills leading into SW Hbr.

All things considered I'm happy with getting to my #2 goal, I'm just not sure yet how to handle things differently the next time. I think I may have to run more miles on cambered asphalt roads ... yuk.

So, I had a massage at Pemetic, soaked my legs at Sand Beach, and spent an hour mowing the lawn to stretch out my tired legs.

It was a great day, great weather, great scenery and great support from the Edenistas on the course.

Congratulations to all who ran today.

are here.

Looks like there was some great running yesterday and this morning. Congratulations to everyone who ran. It's very inspirational to read all the reports.

I'm stuck in Vermont with a bum car for another day. While it's bad luck to have a bum car, it's good luck that it didn't break down in nowhere NH or western Maine. Instead had the sense to do so before I had gotten more than 15 miles down the road this afternoon and I was able to limp back to a repair shop that will doubtless acquire many of my $$$ tomorrow.

For the meter: 8.5 Friday, 5.5 Saturday, 20 today.

Congratulations to all who ran today -- whether you hit your goals or not, you should be basking in satisfaction now. Thank you for inspiring the rest of us. Tim

have to come to Bar Harbor to know that everyone was having a good day. I was out in the yard raking leaves this morning and the skyline off toward the island was nothing but a blur of red!

10 miles: out and back to Farmington Falls.
Congrats all on the great runs today. I loved your report Rae.

Any word from Autumn?

were spectacular. Nice job, guys - hope your legs aren't *too* sore!

I learned a lot. The Eden crew at mile 4 was the best on the course. The High School kids were very enthausistic, every time I saw them. Anyone who negative split has my utmost respect. I should have had more GU.
I managed 13th overall, my third straight 13th place finish in 3 completely different races. (5 mile, 1/2marathon, and today) I took 2nd place MDI finisher and 1st in 40-45 age group.
Thanks to everyone for terrific support throughout.

on all counts, particularly the neg. split thing. Dollars to doughnuts that Ozzie ran negative.

3:03:39 for me...nine minute + improvement over last year.

I have some photos that I'll figure out how to share at some point. Great job all. What a pleasure to run in this group!

Rockin' race to all today, and rockin' wake up for me. My first ever earthquake, not so scarey, but as big inconvenience, as we just got power back, nearly 12 hours later. So I didn't get to do laundry or go grocery shopping today, but I did take a long nap! No damage around here that I could see. The real damage is on the Big Island, as far as I have heard, Oahu came out okay, other than the lack of power.

are in the 2006 MDI Marathon gallery. Thanks, Ed G!

(Note: All images in above comments were added by me.)

everyone. what a beautiful day. I like reading all the reports.

I ran 20 for my long run on the carriage roads in the morning. I'm looking now towards a marathon Nov 5 in Moncton...the timing is right and it's closer than Philadelphia...meaning we can drive up there Sat for a Sunday run. I was waiting to see how this long run went. It was fine and today I'm fine. I had a great two hour yoga class on Sat at Cattitude that focused on hips, and I think that helped a lot as my hamstring woes are gone away.

fall running is great.

Hi Frank,
Thanks for talking me into runnning yesterday - it turned out to be a 19-mile training run, not a nine miler as I thought! It was beautiful and although I hadn't run for five weeks, I was glad to push it for over three hours. Thanks also for taking my hat and gloves!
Judy H

Hi all - I'm posting for rk, who may or may not be able to do his own race report, because he left the state after the marathon yesterday (a trip for work). But I couldn't let his PR of 3:02:23 (wooo hoooo!) go by without mentioning it here... Thanks so much to Pete and Newell who rode bikes and ran with him for significant chunks of the course. And did anyone notice that rk was wearing two different shoes as he crossed the finish line? Minor forefoot problem on Sargent Drive... Sure was a perfect day for a marathon, it was inspirational to watch the runners and walkers on the roads of MDI. Congratulations everyone -

Sarah (ms. rk)

When he becomes Maine's poet laureat we can all say we knew him when he was lucky #13

Thank you all out on the course for the support you were great. Volunteers provide an important ingredient for any event and were very motivating and made this event very memorable. I have done 34 marathons now and most of them fall into the 3:09 to 3:18 range so I did my best out there. It was good to see so many get there PR's and run strongly out there too. Team is an important thing to have during any long event as it can be just you out there.

Happy Trails & roads.

Peter K.

long run the day after the race, plus strides.

Running/Walking = 525!

including many Edenistas in both the MDI and Bay State Marathons

Frank, is that a record?