Disney Deads: Stories

Philadelphia Marathon 2000

A friend and I traveled to Philly on Fri to stay with a Disney Dead running friend, Beth Toner that I had run with at Disney in
Jan. How can you pass up a free place to stay, even if it does mean having to run 26.2 miles once you get there? :) So, with
a very capable co-pilot we made it to Philly with no trouble or traffic in about 4 1/2 hours from Western MA.

We did the race expo which was REALLY good. Lots of vendors, food and things to buy. It was held at Memorial Hall, at the
top of a hill at mile 10 of the marathon. The outlook for Sunday was suppose to be a cold start and then it was to warm up to
mid 40s under partly cloudy skies. Perfect weather, we hoped. Sat we did a bunch of stuff that included driving parts of the
course. One of the people staying with us, Wendy Sibley, is a walker who was targeting a 6:30 completion time so she
wanted to make sure about the course because the roads would be open to traffic at that point. It was fun to see downtown
Philadelphia and some of the history.

OK, race start was 8:30 on Sun and the temp was a "little chilly" 32 degrees at the start. All thoughts about whether to wear
shorts or tights went out the window as tights were a definite for anyone out there longer than 3 hours. You know me,
NaNook of the north as I was dressed in a cool max long sleeve shirt and a wind jacket, gloves, a hat and tights. I ain't no
fool . ;-) I was darn glad I had every ounce of clothing on as well. Elaine, being the warm blooded one of the bunch, just wore
the long sleeve shirt and tights , gloves and a headband. I froze just looking at her.

Parking was toough and we found a spot about 3/4 of a mile from the start. Thanks to Elaine's husband Ed, we had
WONDERFUL tie-back suits that made Elaine and I look like quite a spectacle. Let me tell you one thing though, there was
envy in everyone's eyes. We were warm and kept them on until just before the gun went off. Elaine and I started together for
2 miles or so and then I settled into the Kozuch pace and she was off. :)

The marathon course starts right in front of the Philly Museum (cue the theme from ROCKY here) and it was a great start. It
loops around the museum, up towards downtown, around the museum again and then toward Front St, and then South St (a
little like downtown Northampton) and then does some in and outs in downtown Philly before heading out to University City
and the Zoo area. The first 8 miles of the course was flat pretty much and then there was some hills and then a nice hill at
mile 10. I felt REALLY good the first half marathon . Because of problems with my ITBand I had it taped and it was holding up
really well. My half marathon time was where I figured it would be at about 10:30 min/mile pace. The course then went around
the river and when you looked across the river you could see the elite runners who had just passed the 14 mile mark. The
weather was getting consistently colder and the wind was hitting us as well. I was GLAD to have a jacket. THe sun NEVER
appeared and the temp didn't rise about 40.

I was getting a little bored with myself and started running with a woman from Canada who was at my pace. She was a blast
to have as company as she was running her first marathon. Her running club had come in , 100 strong, from Hamilton
Ontario. I was very glad for her company and we ran well together. At the time we hit the 14 mile mark, the woman' s finisher
was coming across the finish line. She was wearing a singlet and shorts. I suppose when you are out there a MERE 2:30
you don't need to worry about hypothermia. ;-) The course at that point runs along Boat House row and out to a town whose
name escapes me and then comes back along the same route. All along that part of the route there were gorgeous views of
Philly and the beaurtiful site of the museum where we were attempting to get to.

With help from the Canadian runner we were maintaining a good pace as we hit the 20 mile mark at 3:45. At this rate, as we
were running the final 10K back to the museum, I could conceivably come in at 4:50 or so. Ah, alas, it was not meant to be. I
let my friend go on as I began having some ITBand problems in the other knee and I really was pretty lame by mile 24. I kept
my pace and was still on target for 4:50 until mile 23 when it was run 4 min, limp 2 min or so and do that for the final 2 miles.
I lost a lot of time but was estactic to finish at 4:58. I was still faster than my previous time so I was happy.

Elaine, being the speed demon she was did really well and brought herself in at 4:45:07. She waited for me at the finish line
and we both headed to the food tent. :) I will let her tell you some of the other details just in case she doesn't want it shared.
;-)

We waited for our friends and the walker didn't come in until 6:49. There are some REAL heroes out there at that point let me
tell you! We saw many many runners, walkers coming in late and they were really really cold. It made me appreciate the
volunteers AND the real BOPers, who were still there to give out medals.

The temp was down at that point to 39 or so and it was COLD. According to Elaine I had WAY too much energy left, albeit
with a significant limp, as I settled her in and went quickly to the car to retrieve additional clothes from what we had stored at
bagage check. It was COLD. Then when our friend came through, she was miserable (she is from NC and not used to cold)
so I jogged (yup) to the car and brought it around to get them. The ONLY thing that hurts me today is my knee. My IT BAnd
is so tight and painful but the rest of me is fine. Last night, it was tough to sleep but the drive we dreaded today was really
fine. We stopped once for a pit stop and that was it. I am not sore but don't ask me to run tomorrow or anything. ;-)

All in all, GREAT course, lots of neat scenery, some hills, some flats, 6,000 runners....food was OK, not wonderful, nice t
shirt, great company and of course the question one always wants to know..."Elaine, will you do it again?" She says
"Yup"..and I say I am retiring the marathon shoes. :) I LOVE the half marathon distance and will stick with that.

But, you know....I hear that the COuntry Music Marathon in Nashville is quite the challenge of hills...anyone know how far TN
is from MA????

Kris Kozuch