Congrats to Marist Running alum Mike Guarascio (Class of 2005), who ran a rare negative-split race at Monday's Boston Marathon -- first half in 1:25:42 and second half in an eye-popping 1:20:36 for an overall time of 2:46:18 and 1,241st place. Nicely done, Mike G!
Here is his race report from Boston:
This was my third Boston -- in
2011 I ran 2:53 with a big positive split despite great temps and a tailwind.
Then, I did the post-Covid Boston in fall 2021 - a humid one and struggled in
the back half to 2:55. I had a big day in Chicago 2019 with a 2:43:47 and
a negative split (~1:23/1:20) but had yet to nail a strong Boston time.
After that fall Boston in 2021,
about a month later I had a really bad flare up of a condition I have called ulcerative
colitis. Was stuck on the couch for about six weeks, lost 30 pounds and all
strength/muscle, and had to get on the right medicine to control the
inflammation in my GI tract going forward. It’s all under control and stable
now. Throughout early 2022, I built back my fitness slowly but surely - did
some early races where I struggled to hit a 6:15 pace for 5 miles. I used last
year to do some different types of running - completed the USATF-NE Mountain
Series where I did six mountain races including several up/down courses at ski
mountains in New Hampshire. Great aerobic conditioning! And I eventually got
pretty fit last summer on less mileage - PR'd in the 10K on the roads in 34:45,
and gave my half marathon PR a scare in October in 1:17. So I signed up for
Boston feeling like I wanted to nail a good one.
I feel like at this point Boston
is my home course and I love all the history of the race. I live on the
Seacoast of New Hampshire about an hour north, but lived in Boston with my now
wife from 2008-2013 and we used to watch near the finish most years. Plus, with
this being the 10-year anniversary of the bombing, it felt like an extra
special one.
Training went very well, I knew
I was fit (ran a hilly 10-mile race in Maine in February in 57:02). Much of
this is due to having a group of (fellow) crazy people in NH/Maine who I train
with - fellow 30 and 40 somethings with busy lives and families but really
enjoy challenging each other and having a good time with it. A few of us also
linked up with Ben True for getting training guidance, along with a new club
he's starting up called Northwoods Athletics. It's been awesome being able to
pick his brain on the science of training and even things like proper
fueling/nutrition. Side note: Ben had a tough day but still ran an impressive
2:16.
I knew I was pretty fit and
prepared coming in as I was able to get my volume up to the 80 mile per
week-plus in my last few peak weeks and still hit some great workouts. I was
thinking on an A+ day I could maybe sneak under 2:45 or even challenge my
2:43:47 PR. But then, the last week of the taper I had some curveballs -- poor
sleep, extra stress from a busy work week, and the night before the race we
stayed in an Airbnb which happened to be next to a very loud celebration of
sorts in Cambridge. On top of that, the morning of the race my car wouldn't
start because an interior light was accidentally left on. We were able to get a
ride to the school buses, but were running behind schedule and everything felt
extra crazy.
So, at the start I was feeling
like I needed a huge nap, my legs were heavy, and I felt way too nervous. I was
in corral 5 so it was super crowded in the first 5k or so. My original race
plan based on Ben's input was to take the first 20-21 miles at ~6:20 pace, then
bring it down after Heartbreak Hill to 6:15 pace. Basically no "racing
effort" until after Heartbreak. But with the crowded start and the way I
was feeling, I threw that out the window and ran what I felt was conservative
but realistic - eventually settling into 6:25-6:35s or so through the first
10k. When I reached about 10 miles I started to feel OK, but my vision was
going a bit black - not sure if that was a blood sugar thing or what, but I
took a few sips of Gatorade and a caffeinated Maurten gel and that seemed to
help. From there, I started squeezing down the pace but still settled on maybe
a C goal of beating my previous Boston best of 2:53.
Went through halfway in
1:25:42 feeling OK and my fueling plan was going great, so that was
positive. If you know the Boston course, you know the first 16 miles is mostly
downhill (especially first 10k) or flat, then the work starts from 16-21 in the
Newton Hills in a series of four decent sized hills. I hit that point at 16
miles and a switch flipped - I suddenly felt really strong and much more
confident. So much crowd energy in that section, and I was able to maintain a
solid pace between 6:00 and 6:15 average for each mile split even with the
hills. After the top of Heartbreak there are some big downhills you can really
get moving - I was splitting 5:50s on those and it felt amazing. From there, I
knew I still had some run left in me so I tried to press as much as I could
without burning through all my glycogen and/or cramping up. I think my favorite
point was getting to the Kenmore Square Citgo sign and an absolute downpour
coming down out of nowhere. I kept pressing around 6:00 pace or just under for
the final miles and my last quarter mile on Boylston was around 5:20 pace!
Finished in 2:46:18 for 1,241st place, beating my bib number by a bunch (4292).
My second half was 1:20:36.
I may have left some time out
there on the course with the extra slow start, but I'm proud of how I closed
and it was very satisfying to finally nail a good Boston. Plan for the rest of
the year includes some shorter races, trail races, Beach to Beacon 10k in
August, then maybe do a half marathon in the fall. Oh, and to celebrate my 40th
birthday in September I plan to do the Presidential Traverse - a 21-mile
hike/run over 10 4,000-foot peaks in the White Mountains. My running
buddies/club teammates are talking about doing Berlin in 2024 which I don't
have a qualifier for (< 2:45) but I might enter the lottery for that.
5k splits:
20:51
20:11
20:05
19:53
19:40
19:25
18:45
18:29
(last 2.2km in 8:59)
https://www.strava.com/activities/8907813618
Thanks for the opportunity to
debrief on this race. I'm excited to keep things rolling as I enter the masters
category. I'm not really built physically for the marathon but I think I can
get down to low 2:40s on a good day/good course now that I know how to train
for it and fuel before/during. Maybe next fall ... but I'm happy to stick to
shorter stuff for a while.
