Commencement Marathon: Doug Ainscow, 2:49:34

Doug Ainscow strides to his personal finish line on Fairview Avenue

Graduating senior Doug Ainscow ran a marathon today in 2 hours, 49 minutes, 34 seconds. I have taken to calling it the “Commencement Marathon” because Doug will be graduating in two weeks, and, well, this run sort of “commences” his post-graduate running career. Does it “count?” By traditional standards, it does not. It was not a “race” in that it was a solo run – although in his defense, he has been talking about this for months and had several people (including me) interested in joining him. On a rainy and humid May morning, no one joined him. It was just Doug and 26.2 miles.

OK, let’s back up. Doug came up with the idea of capping his college career with a marathon. No one trains harder than Doug. He routinely logs 80-plus miles a week, and his weekend long runs were always the longest on the team – he would run the Culinary trails, up to Vanderbilt, and back, adding on sometimes to get to 2 hours or so. He’ll be the first to admit that he is not the most competitive guy on the team. Hey, the numbers are out there. You can see who Doug is and who Doug was, on the cross country courses and tracks over four years of seasons.

So anyway, back to this marathon idea. Along with all the hard running Doug has done, he also is an avid cyclist. He discovered, almost by accident, that riding his bike from his off-campus house at 92 Fairview Avenue to the end of the now-completed Dutchess Rail Trail in Hopewell Junction was exactly 13.1 miles. Hmmm. The wheels started turning. A marathon, 26.2 out-and-back miles, right from his front steps. The idea was on.

Again, when the rubber met the road, the only person to think this was a good enough idea to do it was, well, Doug. And so he decided today would be the day. Around 8 a.m., off he went. It should be noted, again for the record, that Doug ran a marathon today. Sure, the course was not USATF certified, but by all the traditional metrics modern runners use, by golly, he ran a marathon today:

--He measured it using a calibrated bicycle.

--He measured it using an online course tool, something like MapMyRun.com, but I’m not sure it was that one.

--He measured it using a GPS/Garmin-type watch.

All three came in at 26.2 miles. A marathon. From his house at Fairview, to Daddy O’s restaurant in Hopewell Junction end of the rail trail, and back. A marathon. And, let me tell you something: It was quite a debut marathon, a superb negative-split effort. Here are the stats, and Doug’s comments as well, and my comments too:

Total time of 2:49:34 - 6:28/mile
First half 1:27:22 - 6:40/mile
Second half - 1:22:12 - 6:16/mile
Mile splits:
7:01, 6:39, 6:36, 6:46, 6:41, 6:40, 6:43, 6:39, 6:38, 6:41, 6:36,  6:32, 6:33, 6:20, 6:35, 6:19, 6:12, 6:18, 6:08, 6:08, 6:06, 6:10,  6:17, 6:17, 6:28, 6:18, 1:14 last .2
Doug’s comments:

Felt like I was stuck in cruise control and felt absolutely effortless up to mile 20. At this point, I began to feel it in my legs. Every step of the last five miles was the most painful and uncomfortable stride I had taken since I began running 9 years ago. Miraculously, my pace didn't really suffer at all. Thanks for being there at the finish. I really appreciate it. Today's run is a source for a lot of confidence entering post-collegiate competition.

Coach Pete’s comments:

I love this. I absolutely, positively love this. It may be on the short list among my top highlights as a coach, and it basically entailed my showing up at his house a few minutes before he finished this run. This is one of those “if a tree falls in a forest … ” moments. Does it count if no one was there to witness it or record it? Well, I was, and this post acts as the official record of Doug’s race. That’s it. It is bittersweet that this run doesn’t “count” for anything – he can’t use it for a Boston Qualifier, it won’t appear anywhere in any official results, it’s not “out there” for anyone to see, except here.

But maybe, just maybe, that’s the allure of this all. In this world of high-tech gadgetry and life logging and Tweeting and all the like, how cool is it that a 22-year-old dude decided to run a marathon for himself and for no one else? He did not follow some fancy taper; in case you haven’t noticed, he has raced A LOT this outdoor season! He did not have aid stations, or any aid for that matter, other than a few of those gel block things that are like gummy bears, some of which he gobbled up around halfway. There were no bands out there on the course. There were no crowds. Other than close friends and maybe his family, no one knew he was doing it; and if they did, no one bothered to wake up or show up or acknowledge the run while he was doing it. That is not meant as a slight on anybody; it just adds to the legend of a low-key run for the sake of doing it for himself. He ran a strong, negative-split race, and certainly sets the stage for what could be an exciting post-collegiate running career.

Thank you, Doug, for all you have done for our program, and for providing us with a lasting coda to a great four years.