6:50 or Bust

Actually, 7:49 would be sufficient to avoid a complete bust.  What the hell am I talking about?  6:49/mile is the average pace to finish a marathon in 2:59.  My PR is 2:53 and change so why does going just under 3 hours matter?  Well on Sunday, March 18th, I'll be part of a 5-man team attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the  fastest marathon by a linked team at the Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA.  The current record is 3:26:15 - just over 7:49/mile.  What would be better than breaking the record?  Going sub-3hrs of course.  A 3hr marathon is one of those benchmarks for serious recreational runners - an invisible line that many have on their radar.  Some can only dream of a 2:59:xx marathon, others train diligently for years hoping to crack the barrier just once, and even fewer are lucky enough to push themselves even faster.  In the bigger picture of marathon running it isn't all that fast.  After all, the world record is approaching 2hrs flat (currently 2:03:38) - an average pace for 26.2 miles that is faster than most people can run a single all-out mile.  But in terms of mere mortals it's still challenging and a very respectable time.

As I mentioned, our original goal was to break 3hrs and we had a team with the credentials to do it.  Unfortunately, running often involves dealing with injuries and we lost one of our teammates just last week which left us scrambling for a replacement.  Being only 3 weeks out from the race didn't leave many options because we obviously needed someone who was already in marathon shape, available, and willing to be tied to the rest of us for a few hours.  Luckily, we've got a good running store in the area with a few guys up to the task with only a couple weeks notice.  We may have to adjust our expectations slightly but I think we'll still be close to the 3hr mark.

In addition to myself, the other team members are Tommy Neeson, Drew Midland, Steve Speirs, and our newest running fool teammate Mark Manny.  We're coordinating with J&A Racing as well as the folks at Guinness World Records and we've decided to support a local charity - Preston's March for Energy.  So T-minus 18 days until we toe the line and run for a record.  Check out our Facebook page and keep an eye open for another blog post after the dust has settled.