OKC Marathon Reflections

I made it to the Queen City late last night and have had time to think about the race. Meagan picked me up at the airport and took me to the prison. I caught up with Chuck Engle at the airport and we had a good chat about marathoning and running in general. The Memorial Marathon was his 181st marathon and he was hoping to compete at the front of the race on Sunday. He was quite impressed with my 2:27:22 debut in those conditions. Chuck is usually good for a 2:32 to 2:36 race and yesterday he unfortunately finished in sixth with a time of 2:46:50. So what does it all mean?

I'm not certain how much faster I could have run with better conditions but clearly the 20 mph wind out of the south made it a struggle along Classen. The 2 mile stretch from 21-23 was exceptionally brutal and just at the wrong time of the race. Luckily, Gus was out there with a bottle of electrolytes and another bottle of water before making the left hand turn out of the wind. I owe much thanks to Gus for the words of encouragement late in the race and for being at the finish to greet me. It was also nice see Jeff Cummins (customer at OK Runner) standing at the finish line.

Backing up to early in the race... Scotty and I ran side by side for the first 12.5 miles. We started out with a group of relayers and some half marathoners but backed off when we saw the mile split hovering around 5:20. Chuck Engle was lurking for the first 3 miles but said he had to ease off the pace after we went through the 5k around 17:40. Not blistering but quick. I was feeling great at the time because it was (a) early and (b) wind aided. I wasn't too concerned with running 5:30s because the pounding didn't feel too much harder and it felt right to take advantage of the wind early.

Near the finish going past some half-marathoners. (Photo courtesy of Mr. Downard).

At 10k Jerry joined Scotty and I as he had just dropped out of the half marathon. The pack of 3 worked together and we ran down the Team OK Runner Elite relay team's second leg. We put a bit of distance on the relay and were working well as a group. By this point the helicopter was hovering above and the press truck was in the mix. I think at 8 miles I offered my congratulations to Mark Bravo for getting married in the coming months. I suppose I was intending to make the viewing from home as entertaining as possible. Bravo was doing the announcing from the booth during the marathon and he's the guy Scott and I ran into a few weeks ago at a park in OKC. I got an email from Mark this afternoon returning the congrats. Here's a brief snippet: Wanted to commend your performance yesterday, Jordan! Believe along w/Conor Holt's 2:22 in '04, I'd rank it the best in the race's history... You as well conducted yourself with great CLASS, and should be most proud of this as well. Thanks for the kind words.

Jerry's Kids before dropping out and deciding to pace Scotty and me.

As I mentioned earlier Scotty and I ran together until 12.5 miles. Team OK Runner Elite had caught us on the third leg (12k) and Cole was running alongside Scotty and me. Scotty dropped back just briefly and I turned to ask if he was doing all right. He responded by telling me to go with Cole if I was feeling good. I was, so I did. I quickly caught back up and ran with past 13.1 miles which I crossed in 1:13:24. My hope with going with Cole was to use him running into the wind coming off Lake Hefner. That plan went out the window when I dropped him prior to the overpass that took you to the lake.

Skolnick giving Scotty D some help out on the course. (Photo courtesy of Mr. Downard)

Just before the loop at the lake, the press truck nearly ran me over. Ooops. The lake was terribly windy. I was still feeling good but it was relatively early (14 miles). I made it to the 27k mark well up on our relay team and got a boost from those waiting for their runners. Carrot Top was out there and he cheered me on and I also got a bottle from Scotty's mom. The hill around mile 17 was where I felt the first sign of fatigue as my right hip flexor twinged.

I was counting down the miles from the 16-17 mile marks which were like 1:26:xx/1:31:xx (from memory so not accurate). I knew that I was somewhat tired but figured that I had about an hour of running left based on 6 minute miles, so hopefully I'd be running faster. Knowing that I have started runs feeling crappier than how I was at 17 miles gave me hope that I could make it late in the race without falling completely apart.

I got a big boost running through the final relay exchange at 20 miles. I saw Jason Coleman and he said I looked great. I kept at it until Classen which is where the wheels almost fell off. I got the bottle from Gus during some slow sections into the wind when I dropped a 5:54 and 5:48. Not good.

Once I got back into the neighborhoods and past the 23 mile mark the pace dropped again and I felt much more relaxed. The cheers from the half marathoners gave me a bit of a buzz and I was able to hang on and finish strong.

Crossing the tape. Apparently I needed to shoot the guns?

I had a great time giving interviews and talking to the crowd post-race. I greeted the spectators in the stands and gave a few high fives when the announcers brought me back out to see everyone. This was probably the coolest moment as they showed great support. I talked to Owen about it and in trying to express my emotions while remaining humble about kinda being a big deal at that moment, he said, "if you don't get excited about that then you're doing it for the wrong reasons." So true. Thanks to the fans.

Also thanks to Kristi and Coleman, Spencer for letting me sleep on his couch, Aja for driving me up to the city and being there, the Thompson family for sponsoring me and giving me employment, my former Brown teammates who kept the text messages and emails flowing giving me congrats. Big ups for Tom being the worst coach ever and Jeff who is just slightly better. A big thanks to Meagan who thought I had run 2:33 before the results were corrected and being excited for celebratory core work. Another shout to my parents who had little idea I was racing and failed to answer their phones when I called to tell them the news. Also, thanks for the Boston women for running, well, like women. Here's to you Mike DeCoste for taking the over. If you've made it this far you are clearly a runner boner (credit to Blake and co. out in 'rado) and appreciate the sport. Thanks for the comments/congrats.

Raise your hand if you're a sweet dude.

Here are some links that I can use to show off. I'll post them because I can. I hope I'm not that much of a herb as is seen in this video. You can also check out some photos here. The lovely article from the Oklahoman. A brief from the OU Daily.