(chip times: Frank 3:42:10, Loren 3:43:09, Dave Resler 3:54:14, Larry 4:09:09.)

While many of the Traildawgs signed up for JFK this weekend I wussed out and decided to run Philly again.  Last year I was new to marathoning and I am running stronger this year so I was sure to beat my 3:58 time. Past experiences have shown that no matter how many good long runs I've had I keep bonking early in the marathon and end up struggling through most of it. My best guesses are that I have started too fast and that when I train I only drink water but at the races I drink Gatorade at the water stations. Perhaps Gatorade was giving me a sugar rush then low.  I was determined not to end up in John's "races that sucked" portion of the website so I decided to do three things; not start out too fast, just take in water until at least the middle of the race, and don't look at men's crotches.

Race morning I arrived in Philly at 7:00am and drove around forever trying to find a parking space. Many of you know how bad it is on race day. While driving near the Art Museum I noticed the concrete island in the middle of the road was empty but some of the other islands had cars on them. So I parked there. Within one minute the entire island filled with cars and just to make sure my car was secure other cars were parked in front and back of it as well. I just hoped they weren't 7 hour marathoners. It turns out the guy next to me was the Philly Phanatic so he gave me some autographed pictures for my kids. I told him my girls names were Alex, Allison, and Larry.   I got lucky with the bathrooms too. While most people were waiting for a large row there was another row that had no line. I was then able to go back to my car to keep comfortable while I looked at the starting line about 200 yds away.

The temp at start time was in the mid 30's with a breeze blowing but there were so many people jammed together at the start line it was tolerable. I started in the middle of the pack to keep from going out too fast. For the first 2 miles it was quite congested but after the first water stop it thinned out. Coming back through center city (miles 4-6) there was a cold breeze against us but it wasn't bad. Going past  the zoo I met a woman from Alaska that came down for the race (and she didn't puke talking to me). By mile 9, I was still running at @8:15 pace but was feeling fatigued and knew I probably wouldn't make my 3:45 goal. Then it happened again! At mile 11 I bonked. I was frustrated since all of my training runs go for 18-20 miles before that happens. I tried a gel. It did nothing. I tried a Promax energy bar and by the time I got to mile 15, I started getting some energy back unfortunately this was the out and back portion to Manayunk and the breeze was in our faces again. That's where there was a woman spectator that was yelling her support by telling us how hot we looked in a provacative tone. It was like phone sex without the phone and I had a headache. Around mile 16 there were some protesters demonstrating their free speech rights. Nobody was running this race to make a political statement so many of the runners shouted their objections at the protesters. By mile 18, I was very lightheaded and dizzy so my goal became to just finish. By now I was run/walking. Finally I reached the 20 mile turnaround at Manayunk. It's just a stupid traffic cone but how wonderful it looked! The crowds there were enthusiastic, as usual.

As we left Manayunk the Philly Hashers had a beer stop. Unfortunately, I don't drink but it sure looked good at that time and it would have made me feel better. Actually, I was feeling so awful that even a line of coke would of looked good and made me feel better too but I don't do that either. On the way back to the finish line the wind was mostly at our backs and the temp was in the low 50's. There was another specatator cheering us on by telling us that we looked great and how strong are running was. The guy next to me looked around at all the sweaty, pain filled runners slogging each step and replied, "You're not talking to us are you?" Maybe you had to be there to see the humor.  I then used up my gels, bars, and Ibuprofen and made it to the finish in 4:08+. A big disappointment!

During the race I reached the "Why am I doing this?" stage but when I crossed the finish line I remembered what it's all about. Even if I didn't actually run the whole race.  I also kept saying "Perhaps I should just stick with shorter races since I always seem to have a problem with marathon bonking". In fact when I got home I told my wife I probably won't run Philly again next year and she replied, "Next year is the 10th anniversary". I responded maybe I will do it after all.

--Larry Anthony