Camarillo Marathon
After running the inaugural Santa Barbara International Marathon which I blogged about last December, I felt like I still had some room for improvement on my personal record of 3:03:24. Santa Barbara's hilly 24th mile, combined with my tight IT band and lack of training left me feeling like I could shave off a couple of minutes someday. So, I searched for a target race for the Fall of 2010, hoping my 9th marathon would be my best. I wanted an October race, because I had some friends who had not yet qualified for Boston 2011, and we knew it would fill up by November this year. I also don't enjoy training on cold, dark Winter mornings and I wanted to be able to enjoy the holiday season this year without having an impending race looming over my head. So, a group of us took a chance on the inaugural Camarillo Marathon scheduled for October 3, 2010.
Camarillo is in the West Valley area of Southern California, north of Malibu and east of Ventura. The course drawn up by the race director looked like it had very little elevation change, and the climate during early October in Ventura County is usually temperate. Still, rallying friends for such a small race in a quaint location was a challenge, but I had 28 people who originally wanted to join me. Due to various injuries and changes, our final roster ended up at 12, which still accounted for a large percentage of the 280 total pre-registrants.
Elite Sports of Ventura County is a well-known and experienced race production company in the area, but this was their first foray into organizing a full marathon. Simply put, I hope their second year is better executed than their first. The course was exceptionally barren; we were venturing through foggy farm land with absolutely no scenery throughout the 26.2 miles. There were no sports drinks served (although an obscure brand called Gleukos was advertised), no music (I don't really care about bands on race courses, but they were promoted in the marketing literature), and almost no spectators (even our spouses weren't excited about this location). The marathon course also merged with the half marathon course, which always makes it difficult for someone holding 7:00/mi pace to weave around people running 12:00/mi pace (neither party enjoys that dynamic). However, the most glaring oversight presented itself at Mile #12, where I encountered an aid station with an adequate number of water jugs but no cups which the volunteers could use. Thus, only runners who were carrying their own bottles were able to fill up on water. Everybody else had to continue running, hoping the next aid station would have cups. It didn't. Nor did the next one. Or the next one. Or the next one. The next water I was able to drink was at Mile #20, which turned out to be an anomaly because the following aid station was back to the formerly-arranged jugs of water with no cups (nor volunteers this time).
On a day where the temperature was 70 degrees (not hot, but warmer than most Fall marathons) with 85% humidity (it rained the day before and the location is near the coast), water is an essential part of running a marathon. Even in the 1960's when people ran marathons without all of the comforts that today's high-maintenance participants enjoy, they drank water. I noticed by Mile #2 that my sweat rate was exceptionally higher than normal and I was still eating GU's, which are especially "yummy" without any water to wash them down. So, many of us were disappointed in the lack of planning shown by Elite Sports, but realize that this will be a simple issue to repair in future years. When I pay $75 (for a small-town race) - $180 (for a big race like the New York Marathon) to register for a marathon, I expect more than simple road closures and timing chips. I would gladly pay another $5 for some water and visible mile markers. In jest, a friend of ours designed a tee shirt for Elite Sports to wear for the next year.
Overall, my training seemed to peak in July, when I ran a 6-mile race in 35:56 (which would have predicted a marathon around 2:57-2:59), but I seemed to slow down in August and September (my career picked up and my mileage decreased). Thus, I was just focusing on trying to set a personal record (a 3:03:23 would have been a victory, in my opinion). The first 11 miles were right on my target of 6:50-7:00/mi pace, but I started to slow down unexpectedly by Mile #12 (this usually doesn't happen to me until much later). I took a chance with my footwear, trying the lightweight Avia Avi Lite II's which I would normally wear for a 5K instead of my trusty, beloved Saucony Guides which have taken me through thousands of miles of running and racing. By the latter third of the marathon, I was having trouble holding a 7:30/mi pace, and after Mile #23, that fell to 8:00-8:30/mi pace. I finally rallied at the end, realizing that I was nowhere near a personal record, but could still qualify for the 2012 Boston Marathon. I needed a 3:15:59 to do that (I will be 35 years old by that time), and I finished in 3:10:34.
It was certainly fun to head down to Southern California with a group of friends, many of which accomplished their mission of qualifying for the 2011 Boston Marathon. We now have more than 20 members of my race club who are qualified for that race, so we are looking forward to taking over Boston again next April. I don't know how many times I will want to run that race throughout my life (it will be my second Boston and my first time running the same marathon course twice), but even on this fifth time running a Boston qualifier, the novelty surely hasn't worn off yet.
Hey! I ran that race too! It was definitely barren out there and you also forgot to mention there were no portapotties... ANYWHERE! The cups were missing as well, which was hilarious. Also, I almost got ran over on my way to the finish line... people leaving the half marathon were not paying attention and I wasn't THAT slow! I also noticed a GLARING problem. There was absolutely NO medical plan and I wouldn't even want to know what would happen if someone went down. Great job out there despite the circumstances!
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It may not have been a PB but still a fantastic time! Well done!
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Hey Simon - I enjoyed reading your account of the Camarillo event. Congrats on qualifying for the Boston Marathon again. I certainly admire you and anyone who has the discipline to train for andcomplete any marathon in the kinds of times you are running.
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Danica, you're absolutely right...I forgot about that! There was one port-a-potty around Mile #19 but it had nothing to do with the race...it was for the farm workers. Great point about the lack of medical staff, too! Congrats to you on an excellent race, despite the conditions.
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Mr Re-Boston Qualifier:
Well done! What an epic performance in crappy conditions.
Go Hokies!
Geoff
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Thanks for sharing, Simon; always great to know these things before/if you are going to do the race. How about the Morgan Hill Marathon next year? I'm thinking it may be a better, small town marathon.
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