Boston Marathon legend Bill Rodgers said it best, “the marathon will humble you.” We got some real first hand knowledge of what he meant by that over Memorial Day weekend as Matt Haley made his marathon debut at the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, Vermont.
This race was three years in the making. I signed up for the 2020 version, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 version was moved to the fall and then later cancelled for the same reason. That made this not only a three-year project for me but it was a three-year project for the race overall. A few things have changed for me over that time so my original plans for this race changed as well. Eventually, I settled on going out and giving it a best effort and letting the chips fall where they may.
Things started out great. The weather was absolutely perfect. Mid 50s at the start. No wind. Perfect. The course is two loops in and around downtown Burlington, the largest city in Vermont. Starting at Waterfront park on the shores of Lake Champlain the race takes you down Pine Street, a drag that is home to several breweries, cider houses, coffee spots, and other eclectic spots.
After Pine street you wind through a series of neighborhoods before getting onto the city’s bike path the Island Line Trail. This sector runs along the lake shore and provides incredible long-range views of the Adirondack Mountains across the lake in New York. From there you return to downtown Burlington climbing up to Church Street a must-see pedestrian only brick and cobblestone street that’s lined with shops and cafes.
Once you top out on Church street back down towards Waterfront park before heading out on what I felt was the worst part of the course. A long two-mile exposed drag to grind through before you swing through another neighborhood and a small park before hitting the northern end of the bike path. Once you hit the bike path you’ve got about 2.5 miles of a slight downhill to Waterfront park to the start/finish area.
I started in the second wave, which ended up being beneficial. I was worried about getting out too fast and because I was surfing through the crowd a bit I think it helped me stay relaxed and not stress about pace. I told myself I wanted to run a range between 6:45 and 7:15 but not to sweat the pace. Just run and see what happens. The first four miles were pretty uneventful. I passed a good chuck of people. Including all of the pace groups (the race had every 30 minutes starting with 3:30 pace).
One of the best parts about this race is the local participation. It’s a big event for the city so every neighborhood you go through has people out in their front yards cheering you on. People had their hoses out that you could run through to cool off, some had some extra water or Gatorade and there were even a few with popsicles, which would become more and more tempting as the race went on.
I really enjoyed the bike path section. The views were awesome along the lake and it was great overall running. Going through mile 5, I had to remind myself that this was a marathon and to turn they 10k/half marathon part of my brain off. Once we hit downtown and began the climb up to Church street you could really feel the crowd. That section was packed, which was awesome because it really made you forget about the hill.
At this point, about halfway through the first lap, everything was going great. It was still cool. I was on top of my nutrition strategy and I felt great. I was still surfing groups a bit. Settling in with people for a few miles before either I’d move on or they would. I saw my wife and daughter and my sister and brother-in-law and their kids just before hitting the northern section of the bike path. That was a big boost. I was in no-mans land a bit at that point and it gave me the boost I needed to start trying to close in on the group ahead of me.
I worked on them for the next few miles before finally catching up with them through the start finish line as we started our second loop. At that point I also saw one of my great friends and Vermont running legend Josh Ferenc. He spent the next five or six miles biking around the course hyping me up, which was really awesome.
Things were going really smooth for the next section. I was starting to feel the effort a little bit around 15-16 but knew I just needed to be patient and relax. Having Josh there was super helpful. Whenever I saw him, it instantly lifted my spirts. To be honest, I forgot that Josh is pushing 40 and I’m 37. I would have sworn I was 19 again. The second loop also saw a lot more people on the course which was really cool.
Despite feeling some fatigue, I still felt like things were going well as I started to climb up to Church street for the final time. I passed my family again and got a big boost. As I started the climb up to the 20 mile marker I was fully determined to run a strong last 6.2 and I was really excited about how the day was going.
Then we hit mile 20. I passed a guy and set my sights on the next group up the road, knowing that they would help pull me through this so-so section for the last time. That’s when things went wrong. You hear about the wall. And despite never running a marathon I thought I knew all about it. I was wrong.
In an instant, I went from feeling some fatigue but still okay to ‘oh shit’. Every muscle in my legs felt like it was going to cramp with each step. I knew that cramping at that point would be day done, so I tried to stay calm and manage it. I thought maybe if I could work it out over the next mile or so, I’d be able to find a groove and run it in. That worked for a bit but by 21 it was clear, I was going to be hobbling it in.
Every step my foot would start to cramp, then my calf, then my quad, then my hamstrings. I was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. I’ve figuratively run out of gas before but never literally like this. It was absolutely brutal. People started streaming past me. I’m not sure that I’ve ever felt so defeated. Once I made it to the bike path, I told myself to just keep moving. I wanted to stop and walk but I also really, really wanted to get to the finish and be done.
The last three or four miles were absolute torture. When I finally got to the finishing area, it was packed and I wanted to disappear. I didn’t want to be in front of anyone, never mind thousands of people trying to cheer me on. I hobbled my way across the finish line in 3:20:10.
I saw my brother-in-law after the finish line and he asked me what I needed. I told him I just need to keep moving. I was worried if I stopped, everything would cramp and I’d be in big trouble. I drank a coke, which was the best thing I’ve ever had in my entire life and then caught up with the rest of my family.
At that point, I’d come to the realization that I couldn’t be upset with how the race turned out. Sure it was a bummer to hit the wall so hard in the final miles, but it was physically everything I had. Like so many people before me, I ran great for 20 miles but that’s why they say that’s the half way point. The marathon for sure humbled me and that’s okay. I learned a lot through the training and through the race and I’m excited to take on this challenge again in the future.
Certified Rollers 