Wickham Park Marathon and 50 Mile Fun Run Melbourne FL, May 30, 1999, Trails 26.2 Mi PL 50 Mile PL Adam Bookspan, 33M, Aventura FL (racewalker) 5:24 11T 11:01:28! 1 Matt Mahoney, 43M, Melbourne FL 5:35:50 13 11:11:28 2 Sue Thompson, 36F, Novi MI 5:23:17 10 11:26:26! 3T Mike Dobies, 38M, Lake Orion MI 5:23:11 9 11:26:26 3T Mark Dorion, 40M, El Paso TX 5:43:32 15 11:57:03 5 Stu Gleman, 54M, Titusville FL 5:40 14 12:02:52 6 Vista Beasley, 22F, Melbourne FL 4:11:00! 1T Jason Maki, 24M, Cocoa Beach FL 4:11:00! 1T Jaxson Badenhoop, 52M, Ponte Vedra Beach FL 4:20:44 3 (50K in 4:59:20) David Hatten, 47M, Jacksonville Beach FL 4:51:40 4 Anita Allen, 45F, Coral Springs FL 4:51:59 5 (29.6 in 6:14:10) Dori Brachin, 45F, Pinellas Park FL 4:58:36 6T John Holmes, 56M, Pinellas Park FL 4:58:36 6T Andrew Colee, 52M, Valparaiso FL 5:20:08 8 (36.4 in 8:02) Nathanial Carr, 41M, Clearwater FL 5:24 11T Dawn Angert, 39F, Orlando FL 6:04:00 16T Kelly Stonebreaker, 35F, Orlando FL 6:04:00 16T Jeff Stonebreaker, 35M, Orlando FL 6:55 18 Mike Gillett, 49M, Gainesville FL (19.75 in 4:05) Chris Seinknen, 31M, Sattelite Beach FL (15 in 2:14) Mike Keenan, 40M, Cocoa FL (7.5 in 1:23) 21 starters, 18 marathon finishers, 6 50 mile finishers As I drove to Wickham Park in a torrential rain, I had to rethink my race strategy. All of the flour arrows I had spent 6 hours laying down yesterday as course markings on the 1085 turns and intersections of the flat 14-loop trail course were being washed away. My only hope would be to run ahead of the leaders of the talented field of ultrarunners for the first 3.75 mile loop while carrying a 5 pound bag of flour and lay down new arrows. In spite of the absurdity of my plan, I actually managed to pull it off, with eventual marathon winners Jason Maki and Vista Beasley hot on my tail. We ran the lap over soft sandy trails through pine and palmetto scrub in a blistering 35 minutes, (9:20/mile), as the rest of the field strung out behind us. Maki and Beasley ran together and obliterated both marathon course records, previously held by Juan Tapia (4:48:56), and ultrarunner Kathy Faulkner (5:25:10), tying in 4:11:00. Incredibly, these were their first marathons, though they are fast runners. They had run 35:27 and 38:01 in a 10K last month. Their 3.75 mile splits were 35, 32, 31, 31, 34, 45, and 43 minutes. I predict PR's by 80-90 minutes in their second marathons. Extreme racewalker Adam Bookspan did what no runner could do, win the 50 miler on a course that saw not a single finisher in its first 3 years, and he did it without running a step. His walking speed is incredible. He has racewalked 102.3 miles in 24 hours. As part of his training for the upcoming Badwater 139 mile run from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney in 125 F heat, he racewalks up to 100 miles/week, mostly at a 10 minute per mile pace. His course record here of 11:01:28 (13:13/mile) is quite impressive, given the miles of deep, soft sand and the horrible footing through the deeply rutted firebreaks that I added to the course this year. The unpreceedented 29% finish rate in the fun run can be atributed to the slightly shorter, remeasured course, a redesigned and more runnable 50 mile loop with less bushwhacking, and good weather, low to mid 80's and humid with 90% cloud cover, not 90 F and intense sun that is usual for this race. However, most of the credit has to go to the talented field of ultrarunners who took this course seriously. Sue Thompson, the only female 50 mile finisher, and Mike Dobies, drove from Michigan just for this no fee, no aid, no awards race and tied for third. Dobies has finished Hardrock in 41:36 in 1997 and has finished the Barkley 60 miler twice. In fact, all of the 50 mile finishers except Bookspan are Barkley veterans, and most have run numerous 100 milers. Fifth place finisher Mike Dorion, who flew from El Paso, has a 50 mile PR of 5:55 (a split in a 100K), a 2:27 marathon, 16:44 100 miler, and 131.3 miles in 24 hours. To be fair, he probably would have finished about 45 minutes faster, in contention for the lead, if he hadn't gotten lost, in spite of puking his guts out after 6 laps after having trouble with the heat. Jaxson Badenhoop ran an extra lap for 50K. He and David Hatten put on a series of grueling races in the Jacksonville area, 35 and 31 mile summer beach runs, all-day team adventure races, and so on. Anita Allen, second woman in the marathon in 4:51:59 and training for the Western States 100, would have continued but was under orders from Bookspan's coach (Badwater Quad finisher Scott Weber) not to go over 30 miles. John Holmes puts on the Croom Trail 50K, 50 Miler, and 100K. Andrew Colee ran 10 laps in training for the Pennar 40 miler next week. It is obvious from the fast times this year that I have made the course too easy. I apologize to those who expected an impossibly difficult course and did not find the challenge was all it was hyped up to be. I will try to redesign the course and do better next year. MARATHON SPLITS 3.75 7.50 11.25 15.0 19.75 23.5 26.2 Pace/mile 1 Vista Beasley 0:35 1:07 1:38 2:09 2:43 3:28 4:11:00! 9:34 Jason Maki 0:35 1:07 1:38 2:09 2:43 3:22 4:11:00! 9:34 3 Jaxson Badenhoop 0:36 1:07 1:47 2:25 3:02 3:41 4:20:44 9:57 4 David Hatten 0:36 1:10 1:47 2:25 3:14 4:00 4:51:40 11:08 5 Anita Allen 0:38 1:20 1:57 2:37 3:19 4:04 4:51:59 11:08 6 Dori Brachin 0:39 1:19 1:59 2:42 3:28 4:12 4:58:36 11:23 John Holmes 0:39 1:19 1:59 2:42 3:28 4:12 4:58:36 11:23 8 Andrew Colee 0:41 1:25 2:10 2:57 3:46 4:33 5:20:08 12:13 9 Sue Thompson 0:39 1:21 2:07 2:52 3:38 4:32 5:23:17 12:20 Mike Dobies 0:39 1:21 2:07 2:52 3:38 4:32 5:23:17 12:20 11 Adam Bookspan 0:46 1:32 2:17 3:05 3:50 4:38 5:24 12:22 Nathanael Carr 0:40 1:25 2:10 2:59 3:40 4:35 5:24 12:22 13 Matt Mahoney 0:36 1:11 1:59 2:42 3:40 4:41 5:35:50 12:49 14 Stu Gleman 0:45 1:23 2:12 2:57 3:47 4:49 5:40 12:58 15 Mark Dorion 0:39 1:21 2:06 2:51 3:38 4:34 5:47:32 13:15 16 Dawn Angert 0:41 1:25 2:12 2:59 3:56 4:56 6:04:00 13:53 Kelly Stonebreaker 0:41 1:25 2:12 2:59 3:56 4:56 6:04:00 13:53 18 Jeff Stonebreaker 0:41 1:25 2:12 3:00 4:00 5:45 6:55 15:50 Mike Gillett 0:41 1:25 2:11 3:03 4:05 Chris Seinknen 0:36 1:07 1:42 2:14 Mike Keenan 0:39 1:23 50 MILE SPLITS 29.6 33.0 36.4 39.8 43.2 46.6 50.0 Pace/mile 1 Adam Bookspan 6:14 7:01 7:49 8:37 9:25 10:14 11:01:28! 13:13 2 Matt Mahoney 6:24 7:12 8:04 8:50 9:36 10:23 11:11:28 13:25 3 Sue Thompson 6:18 7:08 8:00 8:49 9:45 10:39 11:26:26! 13:43 Mike Dobies 6:18 7:08 8:00 8:49 9:45 10:39 11:26:26 13:43 5 Mark Dorion 6:55 8:00 8:48 9:35 10:23 11:12 11:57:03 14:20 6 Stu Gleman 6:43 7:39 8:32 9:29 10:21 11:15 12:02:52 14:27 Andrew Colee 6:19 7:12 8:02 Jackson Badenhoop 4:59 Anita Allen 6:14 ! = Course record. -- Matt Mahoney, R.D.