Palouse Road Runners
Newsletter
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For runners eager to start the
New Year right, P. F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon and Half
Marathon offered the perfect opportunity. The inaugural race of this new
annual event took place on January 11 under optimal conditions in sunny
Phoenix. The temperature was in the 60’s during the race, with clear skies
and a very light breeze. Both races started in front of the State Capitol in
Phoenix and ended on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe. The
Marathon included a detour to the north to Scottsdale. Nearly 30,000 runners had registered, causing serious traffic jams at the parking lots near the finish lines. This in turn led to delays for the shuttles taking runners to the start area. Except for a delay in the start of the races, everything ran smoothly, much to the credit of the organizers and volunteers. The more than 29,000 runners that participated made the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon & 1/2 Marathon the largest inaugural running event in history! |
The logistics were amazing. Corrals at the start were packed to
overflowing, and all but the fastest and slowest runners had a lot of
company along the entire route. Bands and cheering squads were stationed at
about one-mile intervals along both routes, providing plenty of
entertainment and encouragement for the nearly 10,000 finishers of the
Marathon and nearly 14,000 finishers of the Half Marathon. At the end of
mile 6 of the Half Marathon,
a cheerleader held up a sign “The Kenyans are right behind you.” For the
next two miles (miles 16 and 17 of the Marathon and miles 7 and 8 of the
Half Marathon), the routes followed the same street. Many of the average
Half Marathon runners were indeed passed by the elite runners of the
Marathon along this stretch. It’s not often you get to run beside such
world-class athletes. |
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 On a personal note, I registered for the Half Marathon at the
invitation of my younger son, Matt, when he reached his target weight
following a year of attending Weight Watchers meetings. Matt has
participated in a few 5k and 10k runs recently, and I see his interest in
running
as an important aid to maintaining his healthier weight.
We had a wonderful time running together, and I was proud to see Matt
maintain a steady pace for the whole course, finishing within two minutes of
our target time. Within an hour of
finishing the race, Matt phoned his brother Chuck (with whom I had run the
Seattle Half Marathon four years earlier). After happily reporting the
successful completion of the race, Matt challenged Chuck to get ready for
the second Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona on January 9, 2005. I can hardly wait to be
there with both of them. |
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