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The First Light
Marathon took place in Mobile, Alabama on Sunday January
14th under warm and humid conditions. The
temperatures were in the middle 60s at the start and
would get in the middle 70s by the time the fist runners
finished. More than 1,200 gathered in downtown Mobile
before 7:30am to participate in the race. Myle Gibson
from Donalsonville, GA was the overall winner in 2:50:48
followed by Robert Youngren (3:02:26) and Wyman Hamilton
(3:05:21). Kit Hunter won the women’s category in
3:10:46. Mith Killough was the winner in the half
marathon crossing the finish line in 1:15:45 while Jill
McEvoy was the fist female in 1:38:32.
The Pine Belt Pacers were represented by Steve Ulery in the Half Marathon and a powerful and energetic relay team conformed by Jim Coll, Becky Ryder, Ashley Bailey, Chrissy Herrington, and Nestor Raul Anzola in the full marathon. Steve ran strong and covered the distance in an impressive 1:37:40, breaking his previous PR by two minutes.
The relay consisted of four 5-mile, and one 6.2-mile legs. Jim covered the first leg and gave a quick start to the team; then it was followed by remarkable performances by Becky, Ashley, and Chrissy. Nestor Raul maintained a steady 7:50 min/mile pace to complete the last leg for the team. At the end we finished in 3:33:52 and set a new “Pine Belt Pacer Marathon Relay Team” record. We also placed third in the Organization Coed Team Division.
As
always the race organizers and the volunteers were
outstanding at the support stops and the post-race
party. We had a lot of fun in the race. A marathon
relay is a good experience. So if you can’t or don't
want to run a full marathon consider
the relays. You still get the excitement of the event as
well as running parts of it.
01/18: A couple of
final comments on the First Light Marathon:
1. See
results
2. The race unofficial results placed the
PBP squad as 13th overall among 32 relay
teams and third in the Corporate Coed Division
with a finish time of 3:33:18 (PBP Relay PR).
3. There were another 2 Pine Belt Pacers
running in the Half Marathon I forgot to include
in the race report, Bill Gasparini and his
daughter Sarah. Bill finished in 1:38:57 and
placed fifth in the Grand Masters Division
(Steve Ulery was third in 1:37:40). Sarah
completed the 13.1-mile in 1:58:17 and won her
age group (1-19). Other runners from our area
that ran the full marathon included Randy Saxon
(4:16:25), William Wolfarth (4:23:22), Ian
Bergin (4:26:54), and David Dill (5:09:13).
© Pijume Diwesi ************************************ Pic 1: First Light Marathon 2007 Pic 2: The PBP team: Nestor Raul, Ashley, Chrissy, Becky, and Jim Pic 3: Jim, Chrissy, Ashley, and Steve Pic 4: Before the race started Pic 5: Ready... Pic 6: ..set, goooo! Pic 7: gooo! Pic 8: Becky receiving last instructions by Hollie Pic 9: Mile 5: Transition point 1. great Jim! Goo Becky! Pic 10: Becky finishes; Ashley starts at mile 10 Pic 11: Chrissy starts her leg, ready to climb the killer hill at mile 18 Pic 12: Jim congratulates Ashley after her run |
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Nestor provided a great report for this race, and only got the date of the race wrong (Jan. 14 is correct). I thought I would add a few personal perspectives on running the Half and share some pictures taken by my personal, traveling photographer. Nestor was excited about the strong finish of the relay team and at the post-race bash he was beaming. They took 45 minutes off last year's time. I know Jim started out strong because he left me in the dust at the starting line. Later, I saw Becky churning out the miles with the determined grit of a winner. I was even harassed by Hollie driving along beside me shouting something (encouragement, disbelief, ?). I tried to get him to turn up the radio and lead me through the balance of the race, but he was there to catch Becky and support her. Oh well, I had to push on unassisted.
I have run this Half marathon three times and always run a good time in Mobile. In fact, in 2006 I set my half marathon PR at this event with a three minute improvement over previous outings. At that time, I said the time would never be duplicated by me, but 2006 was a surprisingly fast running year for me. This year I wanted to see if last year was a fluke, or if I could repeat the run. At the start had doubts. The weather was 65 degrees and humid versus last year's 45 degrees and crisp climate. On the positive, I did not run a full marathon this fall so I have not beat my body into a weary state. While my mind was churning all these questions, thankfully the gun when off. I quickly settled into my target pace and easily went through the first mile. Then in the second mile I started day dreaming and did not realize it until I noticed people were passing me! I hitched up my britches and took off again. Actually, in the second mile the women's marathon winner passed me doing about 7:15 per mile pace and I followed her for several miles. I had another weak knee period in mile nine, but it didn't last long and then I held an even pace until the end. I kicked the last half mile, but time intervals show that I kicked just to stay even with the previous miles! As Nestor said, I bettered last year's time by almost two minutes and was very pleased with my effort. I pushed hard and kept a fairly even pace for the entire distance. A hard effort is what racing is all about. Run for Your Life, © Steve Ulery.
Pic 20: Jim and Steve at the start. Pic 21: Jim takes off like a rocket! Pic 22: I sprint(?) home. Pic 23: Proof of time. |
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