I want to tell you about the Green Bay marathon, but I want to tell you from three different perspectives. My friend Greg Sanchez ran the whole marathon. I ran the half, and my wife ran the 5k, or at least intended to. We each have very different stories, and each was pretty enjoyable in it's own right.
Before today, I had never run in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In fact, I'd only spent a couple hours there at a Packers game. The Bears won. Anyway, it's a nice town, and a nice stadium. And after today, I will remember it as a nice place to run.
The Cellcom Green Bay marathon, half marathon, and 5k starts and finishes in the parking lot outside Lambeau Field, but you get to run a lap around the field about a quarter mile before you finish. It's really a unique opportunity, and a great use of the stadium. The chance to run inside the stadium was what got my wife interested in running. Let's start with her story.
We had a half hour drive to make it to the start this morning, and we were running a little late. As we got to the parking lot, we had already missed my meeting time with Greg, so she offered to park the car, and let me off to meet him. Well, parking took some time, and she ended up missing the starting gun. It was a chip-timed run, so she could start late without any issues. But since the 5k started at the same time as the other two races, she 
got caught up with the marathoners, and ended up missing the 5k turnoff. Suffice to say she ended up running about 6 miles when it was all said and done. She did get to make the lap inside Lambeau Field at least.
Once again, my wife ended up making the sacrifice for my running. Why does it always seem to work out that way?
Anyway, I'll save the best for last, and tell you about my race next. I managed to meet up with Greg a few minutes before the start. The full and half marathon courses ran together for the first 11 1/2 miles, so I promised to run with him and help him make sure he was on pace to run under 3:20. It was a beautiful day for running. Temperatures were in the upper 40's and the wind was relatively calm. I had no expectations for myself, other than to do whatever I could to help Greg qualify for Boston.
We talked throughout the race about his pace and strategy. He started a little faster than we planned, but it felt comfortable, and it was well within his zone from training, so we kept it up with no worries. My only worry was making sure I didn't slow him down! In any case, we ran about 7:25 pace up until we split up, then I eased in to the finish, making sure to enjoy the lap around the stadium. I finished in 1:37, about five minutes faster than the last half marathon I ran a couple weeks ago, so I was happy with the time and the experience.
What I was most happy about, however, was Greg's race! Unfortunately, we did not get a picture of his finish that I could add to this space. Nevertheless, this was his 6th marathon, but one of the first where he was actually trying to run fast enough to qualify for Boston. His initial plan was to start off about 7:00/mile pace to give himself enough of a cushion to qualify even if he slowed up at the end. I talked him out of that and encouraged him to pick his goal time based on what he believed he could do based on his training, and then try to run even splits, so he would feel better during the last few miles.
Greg (reluctantly) agreed to try that plan. We went out the first mile in 7:30, but soon found ourselves running 7:00 pace for the next couple miles. A bathroom stop gave us the chance to reevaluate, and slow it back down to closer to the 7:30 pace we wanted.
Greg hit the half marathon in 1:36 and change, then managed to keep the same pace for the entire second half! He finished in 3:13! It was his P.R. by more than ten minutes, and he finished the dreaded last six miles running strong! Congratulations Greg!
I wanted to write a bit about Greg's run to share what I believe is a good plan for running the marathon in general. I was passing along advice to Greg that my former coach Rick Staback drilled into my head before the last Chicago marathon. I was reluctant to follow it at first then, but after the race, became a believer. Greg is a believer now as well. So way to go Greg! Now I'll have to run a Boston qualifier so I can go with you!
Next up: Soldier Field! I can only hope I enjoy the race next weekend as much as the one this weekend!
Til then, see you on the path!
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