Consistency through the decades

Our good friend and loyal blog/program follower Bob Sweeney of Colorado had a strong marathon run on Sunday at the California International Marathon (CIM). Bob ran a slight negative-split effort of 2:42:21 – his first 13.1 miles in 1:21:14 and his second 13.1 miles in 1:21:07 – pretty impressive.

Here are some more incredible numbers, for those keeping score at home:

--This was Bob’s third 2:42 marathon, and they are spread out over three decades. He ran 2:42 at the Dutchess County Classic in 1998 and 2:42 at the 2003 Yonkers Marathon. That’s consistency over a long stretch of time.

--This was his fastest marathon in seven years, since a 2:38 clocking at Yonkers. Not bad for a 47-year-old.

--He placed 3rd out of 551 in the 45-49 division.

--He placed 9th out of 2,030 in the masters division.

--Given his even-paced race, it’s not surprising his mile splits were consistently fast. Save for a portopotty stop during Mile 15 that led to a 6:39 mile, the rest of his mile splits varied between 5:55 and 6:18. That’s certainly a nice neighborhood to be residing in when racing for 26.2 miles.