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California International Marathon Coburg 5 Miler & Half Marathon
Jasper-Banff Relay |
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Rage Race Report: 2007 Eugene Marathon
Does it get any better than that? Uh…yes it does. Especially when you add Boomer, K.C., The Bavarian, T-Bone, the Endorpheinds, Coop, Josh, The Rage and everyone else that finally got to sleep in their own beds the night before a marathon...which hasn’t happened since 1982 in this town. And the best part is none of us had to mortgage our homes to do it, like race director Richard Maher did, to bring a marathon to this city and thereby erase one of the few blemishes on the resume of the otherwise undisputed running capitol of the planet.
Or if you’re not interested in getting flushed down some drain, and are not a crow, how about just running to Crow…just west of Eugene, which is about half that distance? That’s what 2,000 of the rest of us would be doing. So, let’s find out who would have made it to Drain…or who may have felt like they got hung up in the plumbing somewhere along the way…. The Rage, Boomer and The Barvarian would be opting for the half marathon, with The Rage having a few demons to exorcise from a blow up earlier in the year at this distance. Larry Coxe, an aspiring 51 year old would be making his half marathon debut. Everyone else would be running the marathon…or, if you asked some of them…the “Varsity” race…leaving the unspoken (or, in some cases LOUDLY spoken) assumption that the half marathon would be for the “J.V.” Hmmm….. So, there you have it. The fire had been lit….and they were off! It was a scene that will undoubtedly be repeated for many years to come: A throng of runners the full width of Agate Street, taking a hard right on East 15th…onto Fairmount Boulevard…and then down East 19th Avenue…amidst a gauntlet of screaming Eugeneans!
With names printed on all the bib numbers, runners found themselves wondering if they were really that popular. In my case, I actually started to think my self inflated existence created on 10kTruth was…actually, uh….real…and, worse yet…legitimate. Suddenly it was as if I was really famous. Hearing all those “Go Rage” calls was sort of like being on stage, trying to belt out another tune with a 17 year old trying to rip the shirt right off my back. But I didn’t feel nearly as famous as Todd Bosworth did, who had one runner seriously ask him if he was the mayor as we came down Amazon Parkway.
And while it might have been easy to dream I pumped out CD’s for a living, Boz jolted me back into reality by continuing to put the hurt on The Rage as we headed up 19th toward “The Pit” (e.g. MacArthur Court, just west of Hayward Field…another legendary facility on the UO Campus, where the Ducks made an amazing run toward an Elite 8 appearance in this year’s NCAA Tournament). The half marathoners would be co-mingled with the marathoners for about 11 miles, and Boz and I were running with a pack of elite women’s marathoners, which by itself was really humbling. These women were kicking our asses and they’d be running twice as far. Gulp. So, it was time to suck it up and get to work. An opening 10k at 39:06 wasn’t bad, but it felt like it had been too much work and I knew the next few miles wouldn’t be pretty. And the next three definitely weren’t. It wasn’t till the JV course hooked back down river toward the barn that I started to get a bounce back into my stride again and acknowledging all of my screaming fans. In the marathon, things weren’t even getting started yet. Taylor was still able to speak, which was undoubtedly a shame for young Josh Masterson, given the randomness of the spew pattern. Cully was still right there as was T-Bone. Coop was turning it over doing his thing…and the Bavarian was already done. Say what?
That’s right.
In just under 80 minutes, Thomas had covered 13.1 miles for 19th
place overall. The Rage followed several And then, we all settled back and waited for The Varsity…but they wouldn’t be coming along anytime soon…26.2 miles is kind of a long ways….so, I hopped on the bike and went back to see what was going on at the aid station at mile 23.5. The first one through was Taylor. While all talked out by that point, he was down to sign language, repeatedly flashing three fingers and pointing down after each gesture to Tom Bascom (scratch entry – broken foot) taking it all in on crutches. Translation: sub-3:00. At least he felt like he was still in the ball game. It was going to be close. Rendezvousing with Ken Vendley back at the finish as Taylor circled Autzen Stadium for the final loop, all was could do was wait and watch and implore him to get his sorry ass in gear as the official clock was now well past 2:59. When he finally arrives, Taylor predictably didn’t miss an opportunity for the dramatic, raising his arms and shouting “Boom goes the dynamite!” as he finished in 2:59:50….the last runner to break 3:00 hours.
Race Epilogue: Right on Taylor’s heels was Joshua Masterson, running a personal best 3:01:37. Here’s the rest of The Truth, baby...
The Rage, 5/28/07 |
Eugene,
Oregon - A start at the front doorstep of Pre’s house? Warm up
loops on the same surface where legends have run and 2008 Olympians
will emerge…?
Nor
did we have to get up at 3:00 a.m. to set up the course or help
keep 1,500 people alive who would be spending a good portion of
their Sunday doing the equivalent of running darn near to Drain,
Oregon as the crow flies from Hayward Field. 
minutes
later along with former UO great Jim Hill, Ken Prehoda, Todd Bosworth
and, hitting his called number almost on the button with a 1:27
:15… Mr. Larry Coxe.
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Date and time page last updated: 02/02/2008 10:31 AM |
