March 1989

 

35 Years ago – March 1989: I ran 431 miles with no days off.  I only raced one time that month as I was in training for my first marathon and doing a lot of hard workouts.  The only race I did was the USATF (then NEAC) New England 30k championships in Boylston.  My plan was to run through the half-marathon in 5:10 pace then ease up for the last 5 miles.  My training was based on attempting the marathon at 5:10 pace so this would be more like a hard workout than a race.  The Stu’s course is tough, and, on this day, I had CMS ace Scott Bagley to deal with.  We rolled through 10k in 31:39, and then our second 10k was 31:37.  We hit the ½ marathon in 66:45 and I eased up.  Bagley took off with team leader Don Drewniak yelling to him that I was falling apart.  I remember thinking that was funny, because I felt great.  Bagley ended up winning and I took second place in 1:37:54. Bagley’s time is the fastest run over the certified course with my time the second fastest.  In 1989 the average income per year was $27,450 and a gallon of gas cost 97 cents!