Bob and Felix Wong in front of the finish line. I finally beat George W. Bush's best marathon time, by over 10 minutes (3:34:27)!

Foot Traffic Flat Marathon

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Here are excerpts from an email I sent out after the race:

Yes, I FINALLY did it! I can finally say that “I ran against George W. Bush and won” and make sarcastic remarks about “mission accomplished” etc., haha. So my final time was 3:34:27, in Portland (on the 4th). That is better than Junior’s best time (3:44:52) by over 10 minutes. I am pretty happy with that considering how much my legs were cramping up in the last few miles. Was running well under 8:00/mi pace all the way until Mile 17, which I ran at 8:20 pace, and got increasingly slower from there. My worst mile was Mile 26 (9:52 pace)… I tried speeding up with the goal of doing 7:30 pace or so, but about half a mile from the finish both of my hamstrings totally seized up, which prompted me to yell out an expletive (it was very painful and I was like, “no, not now this close to the finish!”), and even stop for a couple of seconds. People in cars even offered me fluids but I was like, no, that’s okay, the finish is only half a mile away! Then I hobbled in unceremoniously…

The heat was a factor, plus the lack of water stops (only every 2.5-3 miles or so). It got up to 80 degrees, and I wished I brought more than just 4 oz of Coke and 4 oz of water, plus some salt tablets for the cramping (I took some before the race and the day before as a preemptive measure, but I sweated out so much I could have used more at the end.) Well, next time.

The Course

The Foot Traffic Flat Marathon circles Sauvie Island twice in a clockwise direction. It is a flat (though not perfectly so) course with the only hill of any significance the one being at Mile 12.8 and 25.9. This “hill” is very short and one can crest it in perhaps 10-15 seconds. The course is quite scenic, though don’t expect to see many (any) of the “hundreds of cows, thousands of songbirds and majestic bald eagles” that are advertised.

A course map is here (PDF, 70kB).

Time Splits

Mile 1: 8:02
Mile 2: 7:52
Mile 3: 7:58
Mile 4: 7:50
Mile 5: 7:56
Mile 6: 7:45
Mile 7: 7:39
Mile 8: 7:41
Mile 9: 7:31
Mile 10: 7:37
Mile 11: 7:50
Mile 12: 7:34
Mile 13: 7:37
Mile 14: 7:43
Mile 15: 7:47
Mile 16: 7:48
Mile 17: 8:22
Mile 18: 8:15
Mile 19: 8:11
Mile 20: 8:30
Mile 21: 8:56
Mile 22: 9:11
Mile 23: 9:02
Mile 24: 9:31
Mile 25: 9:05
Mile 26: 9:52
Mile 26.2: 1:22

Total: 3:34:27

The Foot Traffic Flat Marathon was named after its sponsor Foot Traffic, a running specialist store in downtown Portland, Oregon.
The Foot Traffic Flat Marathon was named after its sponsor Foot Traffic, a running specialist store in downtown Portland, Oregon.
The race was actually held on Sauvie Island (2 laps around), which was about 12 miles northwest of downtown Portland.
The race was actually held on Sauvie Island (2 laps around), which was about 12 miles northwest of downtown Portland.
[Mile 13, 1:41:00 elapsed) Felix Wong about to finish lap 1 around Sauvie Island.
Photo by finishshots.com
[Mile 13, 1:41:00 elapsed) Felix Wong about to finish lap 1 around Sauvie Island.
Here's Bob coming in and finishing his first marathon! "I never expected that running a marathon would be so painful," he remarked afterwards.
Here's Bob coming in and finishing his first marathon! "I never expected that running a marathon would be so painful," he remarked afterwards.
Bob and Felix Wong in front of the finish line. I finally beat George W. Bush's best marathon time, by over 10 minutes (3:34:27)!
Bob and Felix Wong in front of the finish line. I finally beat George W. Bush's best marathon time, by over 10 minutes (3:34:27)!
The post-race treat was some of the best strawberry shortcake I have ever tasted.
The post-race treat was some of the best strawberry shortcake I have ever tasted.
While Bob, his sister Cathy (the one with the great shirt) and I were talking, Mike surprised me by showing up. A great friend!
While Bob, his sister Cathy (the one with the great shirt) and I were talking, Mike surprised me by showing up. A great friend!
This would (or should) be the last race for my Nike Air Max Motos... note the wear under the ball-of-the-feet region.
This would (or should) be the last race for my Nike Air Max Motos... note the wear under the ball-of-the-feet region.