I suck, though less than three weeks ago.

No easy way to say it: I DNF’ed the Quad Cities Marathon at mile 23. I was at 5:01 and had 1 hour to finish, but instead I sat down and threw up three times.

What happened: I didn’t have the “fitness reservoir” to overcome the day getting dramatically hotter when I got to mile 21.

I started off ok; I was slower than in years past but was ok with my mile spilts right up to mile 21.

12:19
11:49
12:47
12:35
12:29 (1:02)
12:43
12:52
12:49
13:57 (pit stop)
12:39 (2:07)
12:49
12:04 (short)
13:48 (long)
2:47:08 half way
13:04
12:50 (3:11:42)
12:44
12:53
12:47
12:56
13:08 (4:16:12)
12:50
15:11 (lube)
18:55 (5:03:09 at mile 23)

As you can see, even though mile 22 was a bit slow due to my fumbling around to lube some upper body “hot spots” (ok, my nipples and underarms) I had no inclination that I would bomb so badly at mile 22; in fact I still had thoughts of picking up the pace and improving my race position; “just finishing” wasn’t a concern for me.

I suppose that it should have been.

What happens is that when I get overexerted in the heat, my stomach shuts down and any water I drink just sits there. I tried to drink during that 15:11 mile and finished the bottle and I took in a Succeed cap. But the water just sat in my stomach, doing me no good whatsoever.

Hence, and ambulance picked me up and I got two IV bags worth of fluid.

A huge thanks to the medical staff; both the Medics on the bicycles, Dr. Bradley, and the EMT’s who took such good care of me.

I’ve DNF’ed a marathon before (Arkansas, 2004) but at that race, I knew that I was in trouble at mile 18-19 and tried to work through it. I couldn’t, and took a DNF at mile 23.

This time: had the Quad Cities had the “walker friendly” time limit (say, 7 hours), I would have sat for a while and attempted to finish the race (which would have been stupid)

Other notes: I can recommend the Quad Cities Marathon to runners in the 3-4 hour range with the caveat that the streets are “hard” streets. There are some bikepath miles.

For the slower runners and for walkers: Keep in mind that it tends to get HOT 4 hours into the race, even if it is ok at 7:35 in the morning (the start time) You need to save something to deal with that last 10K, which is on a very hot asphalt road, with zero shade. You’ll be treated nicely by the staff, but that last 10K is brutal if it is a hot day.

The organization is outstanding; Race Director Joe Moreno (an accomplished runner himself and a former Mayor) puts his heart and soul into making this race good. The scenery is breath taking at times (over the bridges, and on Rock Island Arsenal) and you pass through some cool downtown areas in Rock Island.

Photos from when I had more successful outcomes:

Running a 3:55 in 1998. I finished about 210 out of over 1000; yes it was brutally hot. I was at about mile 20 when this photo was taken; note the detergent from my shorts running onto my leg. I took over 1 hour to do that last 10K.

Walking a 5:11 in 2004. Note the hip drop.

After the 2004 race; that is Deborah Kallman (then Feinberg) whose back is to the camera. She won money at that marathon. Bob Corbett is the guy without the shirt.

Sloppy walking a 4:44 (I was listed as Manyes during that race). My knees look fine here though.