I don’t normally cover out of town races, but the team had such success in Philadelphia that I felt going wide was the right move.
Our top three finishers, Daniel Gercke, Cary Segall and Yufeng Guo each set a personal record. Glory to them, but since this was a marathon, there was also hardship and even two doubles and a major running milestone. Read on:
Daniel Gercke (2:38:15/86.6%/2nd in 45-49)
Based on recent races, I decided to go out at 2:40 pace and then reevaluate at the half. It was an ambitious pace for me, but go big or go home, right? Tony’s 10/10/10 would get me through.
Cary Segall and I worked together in the opening miles for a conservative, even pace – a perfect set-up. I gradually picked it up just a little and got through the half in 1:18:48. Through Mile 20 I just held on to that pace, making sure not to slow down after the three 180-degree turnarounds. I averaged 6:01 to 10k, then 5:59 to the half, and 5:57 from there to 30k. Tony’s strategy was working perfectly.
Somewhere around Mile 21 I fell off the pace, and averaged 6:08 till the finish. But even so, I spent the entire last 10k reeling in guys who had dropped me long ago. I posted a slight positive split and felt like it was the smartest marathon I’d ever run. I was the 2nd masters runner, with a 14-minute PR.
Support throughout the course for the CPTC leaf was incredible, but I’ve also never been mistaken for a Canadian so much in my life.
Cary Segall (2:42:45/78.6%/2nd in 40-44)
This was my first Philly marathon but I had done the half twice so I was familiar with the basic course and a good portion is covered for the marathon. The weather was as good as could be expected with temperature about 40 degrees at the start with overcast skies. The half/full marathon go off together, they don’t have a separate start, and the bibs are the same so it’s tough to get a good gauge of the competition for the marathon until the second half of the race. Anyway, I met Daniel at the starting line and he had told me his plan to run 6:06 and finish just under 2:40. I had told him my aim was 2:42 with an outside shot at 2:40.
At the start I committed to hitting the half at 1:20 to give myself a shot and see how I feel so I went out with Daniel and ran the first 5k at just over 6 minute pace but I knew that this was too aggressive so I let him go. He was in my sight for the next few miles and then slowly pulled away where I only saw him during the few turnarounds on the course. I ran a steady 6:05 pace for the front half and crossed at 1:20:10, however, I could tell that I wasn’t going to be able to hold this pace for the back half. Basically, I settled into a 6:10 pace and ran pretty steady without any bad patches. This was a tough part of the race because there are very few fans as it’s an out and back with no transportation for spectators. I was able to grind it out and then coming back from mile 22 to the finish I encountered a headwind for the first time in the race. The final 5k was tough as I started to feel fatigued and the lack of fan support made it extra tough on top of the headwind. My pace dropped to around 6:20 but I was able to hold on and get that 2:42 that I had targeted based upon my training.
All in all, I would not say the course was easy as I had planned going in based upon the Philly half I have done a few times, including, in September this year but it was 90% humidity so all times were slow. There were quite a few rolling his and a “cat like” hill at the end of mile 10. Additionally, there were 3 turns of 180 degrees that were tough in terms of breaking your stride. Having run the Chicago Marathon I can say that Philly is definitely not as easy a course but it’s not as tough as NYC Marathon.
I was very pleased with my 2:42:45 (2nd in age group) as it represented a lifetime marathon PR of 3:30 from NYC 2013.
Also, I would like to give a special shout out to Daniel as his 2:38 (2nd in age group) is just amazing! His last marathon was NYC 2010 when he finished in 2:52. He is such a strong, under the radar runner with the times he is putting up in all distances. Very impressive!
Yufeng Guo (2:59:00)
Ran Philly.
First marathon ever.
2:59:00
Split 1:29:51
276th overall
57th age group
Ran with 3 flat pace group for the first half, then went with the flow for most of the 2nd half, then ran a 6:22 last mile to lock in the sub 3. Saw some other CPTC out there, looked good!
George Ross (DNF)
It was a perfect day for racing. We had a good group out there and I ran with Tim Stockert and Nick Garramone until around mile eight or nine when my hamstring gave out and suddenly my day was over just like that. It’s been that kind of year for me. Everyone had a strong day and we celebrated in fine style afterwards. Time to heal and look forward to next year
Completing the rare NYCM/Philly double, Nick Garramone and Timothy Stockert ran together at 3:20:29. Tim with the details:
The Philadelphia Marathon marked a major milestone in my marathoning career it was my 40th marathon. Coming off of the New York City Marathon three weeks ago, my partner – Nick Garramone – and I ran the entire marathon together in a celebratory 3:20:30. It was a beautiful day and a great course. Conditions were infinitely better than NYC and we both felt very good the entire race holding a comfortable 7:45 pace for much of the race. This is the 28th marathon that we’ve run together and one of many that we have run step-for-step. A shout out to George Ross who also ran the first 9 miles with us.
Following the marathon, we also held a celebratory party in West Philly where 20 of our friends who raced and cheered joined us for pizza and spirits. All in all, a great day!