Greater Hartford Marathon, Oct. 13, 2007

I raise my leg and rest my heal on the base of the fence outside my apartment. It is time to stretch after a nice training run. My mind wonders and I end up looking at my knee and notice an old scar. I think I got that one while riding a bike as a kid and the scar on my shin is worse only because I wouldn't let it heal.

Those were the days when you ran out the front door first thing on a summer morning to go find some buddies to play with. We lived in town, yet our street was gravel and was the cause of my
knee scar. Back then you fell off your bike, tumbled and picked up the bike and went back to it, otherwise you would been left behind. So much was spontaneous fun, just going from one thing to the next and most of the time staying out of trouble.

But one winter day I was with my brother Mark exploring along the river and since it is so much easier to walk on the frozen river than bushwhacking, we walked on the river. All of a sudden Mark goes through the ice, only to his calves, so being a good brother, I laughed so hard I couldn't talk, "Man mom is going to kill you!" Then to rub it in, I showed him exactly what he did while tears of laughter fell across my cheeks. Well, of course I broke through the ice and went even deeper, about knee deep so all that cold water went right into my rubber boots. Then it was Mark's turn to laugh, and he really enjoyed himself as folks could hear him laughing from miles around. Can't remember if we got yelled at, but I remember my feet were really cold by the time we sneaked back home.

During this training run I came upon a deer on the trail and she just kept on the trail running ahead of me 20-25 feet, looking back at me every once in awhile to check on me. After about 300 yards she ran off. You don't get that watching ESPN or "Desperate Housewives", for awhile I experienced the fun of my youth. Of course, the next curve in the trail reminded me of the adult world I live in as I see a sign next to the pond that says "No Swimming Allowed, Violators will be prosecuted." I can imagine a guy asking the other guy in the slammer, "What are you in for?", "Three to five for Swimming with intent to Cannon Ball."

The Greater Hartford Marathon is a fairly large marathon with about 3,500 runners between the full and the half. As I drove the 110 miles to Hartford on Friday, we had high winds and showers, but by race time it was a clear morning of about 40 degrees with a light wind. So everyone showed up for a fairly easy course through Hartford, CT streets. At about mile 7 you head out on a long loop that you end up turning around at about mile 12. Half way through you see the Elite runners going the other way - man are they fast. They will be at the finish line this day an hour and 30 minutes before me or when I hit mile 16 they are all done (26.2).

Soon it will be against the rules to run with headphones, so I tried going without them. It was good since I got to experience more of the race.

At mile 17 a lady looked at me and said, "I am dead from the waist down!" For a moment I thought it was someone I used to date, but it wasn't and I just told her to walk, but if she stops she won't be able to start up again and that would be the end of it. What she experienced is really just bad race management. When it comes to a marathon, you pace yourself regardless of the excitement of the starting line, otherwise you hit the wall and it is a terrible place to be - with still 9 miles to go, I don't know if she finished or not. But I have been where she has been and you feel helpless.

As usual, at the 26 mile marker, I turn it on. Of course by then that doesn't mean much, but you are giving it your all. One young guy didn't appreciate my sprinting up behind him and kicked my but - he wasn't going to let some old guy beat him. Maybe I am also getting better, not just older since once again I broke my best time - if only by 2 minutes, it was great!

When we are young and before we get all caught up in the Crap, we had fun most of the time. We would just go out and would be unafraid to try something new - we were told we could do anything. I remember seeing in my son David's eyes the excitement of going to Cub Scouts for the first time. And really that starts the process of going from carefree to careful. Peer pressure of criticisms and put downs that kids are so damn good at take their toll. David took a lot during that time period, more than most because he wore his heart on his sleeve, but he pushed beyond that.

Today David is the great father and husband I could only wish to be and in his professional life people compete to work in his store. Through it all, he never lost track of playing and having fun and it makes him the "one" people want to be with and that is a great achievement we all would be proud of.

Clarence Demar Marathon, Sept. 30th, 2007

I was standing in front of the oven ready to vacuum it out after finishing with the toaster and I still had to vacuum the fridge. The thing is, I can do all three without taking a step. At the time, I am in the middle of my"heavy" cleaning cycle because this month had a "P" in it and that is how I know to do the Deep Apartment Cleaning Tasks.

And I got to thinking about what people talk about when they mention a "mid-life crisis". I figure I should get to it before my sons start in with theirs. Maybe I can reserve a Harley for next Thursday and return it by Sunday after going "hog wild" all weekend, I could put this thing in the done column.

Well as you can imagine, I didn't do the "mid-life crisis" thing because I had to run. After recovering from the ill-fated Jay Mountain Challenge Catastrophe I decided to go back to the simpler time of a simple marathon.

The Clarence Demar Marathon is in honor of the only person to win the Boston Marathon 7 times. After his running days were over, he moved to Keene, NH to teach at the State College. This marathon has only one sponsor(Peerless Insurance), the budget for the last 15 years hasn't changed and the shirt you get has no advertising. This is not typical, as most marathons have large number of sponsors that show up on the race shirts and it starts resembling what NASCAR racers wear.

This race had 250 runners for the marathon (the only race distance), was simple (no porta potties on the course - none) and was a point-to-point marathon.

The race Director tried to tell us 3 times about the lady that used to volunteer to man water station #3 for the last 30 years - he couldn't finish without breaking down, but I think we got the idea.

Guest speaker Holly Keoster at the dinner was a veteran that lost the use of her legs back in 1991 and has since completed 69 marathons in a wheelchair when she is not teaching high school. Her topic was "Obstacles". You can go around, over, through or give up, it is all up to you. She chose not to give up.

Point-to-point means you get up early (5:30 AM), get on a bus and ride to the starting line. At this time of the year it is just starting to cool off and more than a few of us were surprised by the 37 degree temperature that we had to endure outside for an hour before the start.This was what I was looking for - a true runner's marathon put on by people that love the sport. The gun went off so we all stopped talking and started running down hill. What a gorgeous first 6-7 miles of New England forests that have leaves changing and falling as we run by bubbling brooks.

Everyone is in good spirits and I talk with people that were at the Portland Marathon when I was or the Philadelphia Marathon or that damn Jay thing. At the first water stop, I get rid of my sweatshirt and I feel good.

It turns out to be a great day for running as we turn into the campus of Keene State College and run up through the shoot to the finish line. On this day 15 of us finish within 2 minutes of each other and I get my best time ever at 3:58 and come in 99th place (no award!). Driving home after spending too much time talking with other runners, I listen to the radio, where I can pick up stations from 5 different states -that's New England for you and I feel good. I think back about the"mid-life" crisis thing and the "obstacles" we all have and I wonder how you can make it through all the things that get thrown at us. This week I lost my ex-father in-law that I knew for over 20 years, yet I gained a brand new granddaughter and maybe, like it or not, that is what mid-life is all about.