Operation Jack

Fighting autism, one mile at a time.

The Boston Marathon: It's Boston's Marathon

by 11 Comments

I had a weekend recap almost completely worked up for today, but with the Boston Marathon opening and closing registration yesterday, I figured I’d address that because I’ve saw a lot of complaining about the way it all went down. Charity runners are getting a bad rap, and that’s just wrong.

Real quick, just in case you’ve never been here, I’m a marathon runner and a father of three. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I decided I wanted to do something to try to make a difference in the autism community, so I’m attempting to run 61 marathons this year to raise money for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. So far, I’m on track, through 50 of 61 with only 11 to go!

Anyways, registration for the 2011 Boston Marathon opened yesterday and I registered and got in. Registration was only open for eight hours or so and I’m glad I didn’t delay. Once it closed, though, I started seeing a lot of griping about charity runners on the Boston Marathon’s Facebook page, and that really annoyed me. So, I figured I’d address that today.

If you’re not familiar with the Boston Marathon and it’s qualifying standards, it’s fairly tough to get in. Men 18-34 need to run 3:10:59 or better (7:17 average pace per mile) and women 18-34 need to run 3:40:59 or better (8:23). Many marathon runners set qualifying for Boston as the ultimate goal and spend years getting there. I had to work extremely hard for about two years before I qualified for the first time. I went from a 2:29 in my first half marathon in December 2005 to a 3:07 full marathon in October 2007.

I went and ran Boston in 2008, and I consider it an annual reward for all the training I do. I train hard and really push myself. Boston is a race filled with great runners, great history and great support. I just love it.

In 2008, registration closed in about March. In 2009, it filled in either late January or early February — I don’t specifically remember, but it was around that time. Last year, the Boston Athletic Association made a gamble and sent off an email on October 29 stating that registration was almost full. I didn’t believe it, but I registered anyways, not knowing how many people would take the bait.

You get a number when you register, and fewer than 14,000 people had registered when that email went out. Shrewd move by the BAA — I was right! But within a week, registration was closed and I was in. I knew immediately that I would need to register on the first day this year. Boston had become a race with a reputation of closing early.

I registered yesterday morning, about five hours before registration closed. Then the next thing you know, I’m seeing all sorts of complains about charity runners on the Boston Marathon’s Facebook page, so I decided I’d write about that today. I wrote a quick post yesterday, but I’m following up with what I read about, because it really annoyed me

First of all, there are 26,700 runners in the race. There are 12 corrals and two waves. Each corral has 1,000 runners. 12,000 runners go in the first way and 14,700 go after that. From what I’ve read, there are 1,350 charity runners and about 3,900 entries that are somehow given out or sold through the Boston community to runners who haven’t qualified. So, you’re looking at approximately 5,250 runners out 26,700 who aren’t qualifiers.

Fewer than 5 percent of those are charity runners, and they START AT THE BACK! They’re not taking spots from anybody. They start behind all of the qualifiers, and based on the number of qualifiers, participants and wave one runners, I’m pretty convinced charity runners are add-ons, not spot stealers. Plus, since 1989, Boston Marathon charity runners have raised more than $100 million. Most charity runners are raising more than $3,000. And for that privilege, they get to sweep the course! I don’t know the exact number of entries sold yesterday, but it was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 21,450.

Over the course of eight hours, that’s about 2,680 an hour. The registration rate probably accelerated during the day, because there were system issues early in the morning. So, take away those 1,350 charity entries and eliminate all the money they raise and give those entries to runners who achieve the qualifying times and you’re looking at registration closing a whopping 30 minutes later. Charity runners clearly did not cause yesterday’s problems.

Other folks are complaining about the entries given to the local community. Here’s something else I have a strong opinion about. The quality of the field and the history of the race are a big part of what makes Boston such a great race. But the local community does, too. They take the day off of work. They line the course and throw parties from start to finish. While residents of most cities complain about road closures, people in Boston treat you like royalty during race weekend.

People are excited to talk to you when they know you’re running the marathon. I had people applaud me when I walked into a bar after the 2008 race. The enthusiasm ranges from kids to college students to senior citizens. I gave hundreds of people high-fives during the race each of the three times I ran it because they come out and make the race what it is, so if they want a high-five, then I’ll give them one.

And along those lines, if the people of Boston want 3,900 entries, I don’t have any problem with the BAA giving those to them. It’s their race, not mine, and not some other fast guy’s, either.

It’s pretty simple, something we all learned in high school. Supply and demand. Entries are limited and there are a lot qualifiers out there. I expect the price to go up next year, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the qualifying standards get tougher. In fact, I think they should. It’s pretty obvious that only a minority of the people who qualify and want to get in can actually get in the race.

The purpose of the qualifying times is to reward the best from each age group with a spot in the race, not to reward all people who can run a marathon in an arbitrary time. The qualifying levels need to be re-evaluated, because they’re not limiting the field. If that happens, I might not get in, and I’m fine with that. I’ll just work harder if I want to go back.

For now, I’m glad I’m in for 2011. And I’m bummed for people who qualified but didn’t register in time. But I’m really bummed hearing people try to lay the blame on charity runners and the Boston community. As individual runners, we don’t own the race and we don’t have a right to run in it.

2011 Boston Marathon Registration: Open and Shut!

by 1 Comment

2011 Boston Marathon registration opened AND closed today, by far the fastest the field has filled for the race. I’m not surprised it happened this quickly, but it’s still shocking to know that anybody who waited more than seven hours to get in will be shut out.

The Boston Athletic Association made this quick sellout happen with a shrewd gamble last year. On October 29, the BAA sent out an email blast announcing the race was close to filling. I didn’t believe the email, because the race sold out somewhere around late January or early February for the 2009 race. I was convinced it wasn’t close to full. But after about 30 minutes, I realized I was also convinced that tons of folks would take the bait and register. So I registered.

You get a registration number when you register. Mine was 20013971. I don’t know the numbering scheme for certain, but I’d be shocked if it wasn’t incremental. In 2009, my number was 9018681 when I registered about a week before it closed. It makes perfect sense that I was registrant No. 18681 in 2009. While the email blast last October said registration was close to filling, I firmly believe fewer than 14,000 had actually registered for more than 20,000 available spaces. Note: I don’t know my number from 2008, although I registered in October of 2007 and I think the race filled around March of 2008 and it hadn’t filled in a while.

Anyways, last year’s race filled about a week after that email blast. Once that happened, Boston had a reputation as a race that filled early and everybody knew to jump early this year. They took a gamble with the email blast and it paid off. I suspected the race would fill within a week, but maybe even within a day. I registered this morning and I’m in. I’m pacing a 3:40 group in Mankato, Minn. this weekend and I’ve been thinking that even though I’ll be leading those folks to qualifying times, they wouldn’t be able to run until 2012. Sure enough, that’s the case.

I suspect there will be changes for 2012. If neither of these come to fruition, I’ll be surprised. If both do, I won’t be.

1. Price increases? Obviously, with demand considerably higher going forward and supply the same, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the price takes a nice hike next year.

2. Tougher qualifying standards? There are more than enough runners to fill the field. The BAA could raise the bar and toughen the qualifying standards. The race would still fill and qualifying for Boston would be even more prestigious than it already is.

It’s definitely an interesting day for marathon runners. If you wanted to get in, I hope you did!

Race Report: Denver Rock 'N Roll Marathon

by 2 Comments

Another day, another marathon. In my case, that was the truth Sunday. After running the Kansas City Marathon the day before, I continued along the Operation Jack train with my 50th full marathon of the year, the Rock ‘N Roll Denver Marathon.

I didn’t expect a lot out myself heading into the race. My previous three races were 3:28, 3:29 and 3:29, plus this was the day after a 3:29 and it was up at altitude. I was a little bit afraid that I wouldn’t even have a 3:40 in me. I was really hoping to go sub-3:30. Realistically, I thought I was good for about a 3:36.

This was my 78th lifetime marathon, but I’m still getting the hang of these things. I never seem to pace them correctly, and while I try to alter my strategy to find the right recipe, I always seem to have problems. Today, I figured I’d go out conservatively, trying to run in the 7:30 range and adjust as the run went on.

It was weird starting out at that pace. Aside from when I’ve paced at slower rates, I’ve never set out intentionally holding the pace slower than a Boston qualifying speed. But I knew I needed to take care of myself and avoid blowing up. Long, slow death marches are no fun in marathons. I really didn’t want one of those in my second marathon of the weekend!

I got rolling and felt fairly OK. I started thinking about how I felt like I normally do and realized that my legs are completely fatigued right now whether or not I run a marathon the day before, so it was business as usual. I was a little cautious, however, because of the altitude.

Things were going fine and I enjoyed the early part of the course as we snaked through downtown Denver. I really didn’t struggle much. The course got a little boring as we started to go through a typical Rock ‘N Roll course. There were out and backs in industrial areas and we spent a fair amount of time snaking through a park to tick off miles.

At about mile 16, I started to have problems with my right knee. I’ve been experiencing some issues with my IT band in that area lately, and over the past couple of years, I’ve had tendinitis flare-ups. That tendinitis frequently surfaces when I run doubles, like I did this weekend, and a combination of those two conditions made my knee buckle sporadically over the final 10 miles.

I’d be running, and then all of a sudden, my knee would buckle and I’d have to stride with an exaggerated hop for 10 or so steps. When I dealt with that, my pace dropped. When I felt a little stronger, I did my best to push like I was kicking because I knew my knee would give at any time and I wanted to bank time while I could.

I was fairly disappointed with the race as it went along. I didn’t think that the course did much to highlight Denver (Rock ‘N Roll courses are good at being boring) and there weren’t as many bands out as there typically are for one of their events.

But the biggest problem I had with this course was that it was long. I’ve run 78 marathons now, so I know that the distance comes up long because of tangents. But I know when miles are long and there was one early in the race that was off (somewhere around 3 or 4, I don’t remember), and the “mile” between 23 and 24 was closer to 1.15 miles. We went up and back on a boring overpass and I’m completely convinced the turnaround was too far out.

I was ahead of the 3:30 pace, even looking close to a 3:27, but when I hit mile marker 24, I knew I was going to be getting a time for 26.4. I hate that and was pretty mad. But I kept on pushing and hopping, intent on going sub-3:30. I really wanted to be faster than my 3:29:38 from Kansas City on Saturday.

When I hit what I knew was 26.2, I was at 3:27:56. But I had to keep moving. I pushed up the last little bit to the finish, and crossed the mat 3:29:28 after I started, a 10-second improvement from Saturday. I was pretty happy with that. I don’t have a ton in me right now, but I know I gave it a good effort and I was happy about that.

So there you have it. I’ve now completed 50 full marathons this year. I like the look of that number. It looks kind of cool. And you know what I really like? Only 11 to go!


Yep, I was there!

This is what 50 medals looks like.

Race Report: Kansas City Marathon

by Leave a Comment

I continued the final stretch of Operation Jack Saturday in the Kansas City Marathon, completing my 49th 26.2-mile race of the year. As has been the case recently, I had no speed. But as has also been the case, I found plenty of positives to take with me.

A quick preface, just in case you’ve never been here. I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I want to do something to make a difference and make things better for kids like him. So, I’m attempting to run 61 full marathons in 2011 to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. I had run 48 prior to Saturday.

Kansas City is a special place for me. I went to college two hours west at Kansas State University. I spent time in Kansas City when I was a student, I have a lot of friends there, and that’s where Tiffany and I first lived when we got married in 1999. I always say that my home and my family are in California, but my heart is in Kansas City.

Whatever the case, the highlight of this marathon didn’t involve me, so I’ll just gloss over the run. I’m out of gas, I have no speed and the course is difficult. I ran a 3:04 on it two years ago, but Saturday I was only good for a 3:29. Dead legs. But I really enjoyed the run. I mean, it was Kansas City! Plus, my wife and oldest son, Benjamin, were there at the finish line waiting for me!

But enough about that. I have a friend from college named Dan Merker. Nice guy, and he’s been really supportive of what I’m doing this year. He knew me from back in the days when I weighed 250 pounds, drank 75 beers a week and smoked a pack a day. I’m pretty sure that when we were in college, I’m the last person he would expected to run a 5K, let alone a marathon.

Last year, when he saw how I was planning on running 61 marathons, he decided he’d spend a year training so he could run one of the races on my schedule. Kansas City was that race, of course. I rode up with him and was pretty excited for him. There’s nothing like the day you run your first marathon. You own that day and you’ll always look back on it with fondness. My day is June 4, 2006. I’ll never forget it. Saturday was Dan’s June 4, and I knew I inspired him to get out there and run the race. Do you know how awesome that is?

I answered a bunch of questions for him during the week and he seemed ready to go. He was chasing a 3:55 and I thought that was pretty reasonable based on what he told me about his training. We talked a little more before the race and I was a little concerned about some of his training. I knew there was a possibility that he would struggle late, but I had no doubt he’d finish the race.

The plan was to wait for him afterwards, but unfortunately, he did end up struggling late and I was on a tight timeline with a plane to catch. He ended up going 4:26, but he finished the race. It started getting pretty warm, so I know it got tough out there for him. Your time doesn’t matter in your first marathon. Finishing is what you need to do and he got it done. He’s a marathoner!

He gave me a call after the race and I congratulated him. I get excited when somebody finishes their first marathon, whether it’s in three hours, four hours, five hours or six hours. And it’s pretty cool to know that I got him into it. I don’t think marathoning is the be-all, end-all to anything, but I really, really like it when somebody gets into a fitness routine.

So I guess that’s my take on Kansas City. Memorable run for Dan. Not so much for me. But it was a good day and Operation Jack marches on.

49 down, only 12 to go!


Me, Tiff and Benjamin after the race.

Weekend Preview: Kansas City and Denver

by 3 Comments

I feel like I just got back from Chicago. And I did. But it’s time for another weekend on the road for Operation Jack. This weekend is going to be my best weekend of the year. It was almost going to be my worst weekend of the year, though.

Real quick, just in case you’ve never been here before, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I decided I wanted to try to do something to take advantage of my ability to recover from marathons and make the world a better place for people like my son. So, I’m attempting to run 61 full marathons this year to raise money and awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism.

So far, I’m through 48 of the 61 marathons, plus I’ve run a couple of ultramarathons. This weekend, I’m heading to Kansas City and Denver for marathons 49 and 50 of 2010.

Why This Is Going To Be The Best Weekend Of The Year
My wife Tiffany and my oldest son Benjamin are coming along with me! I am SO excited about this! Ever since I created the schedule back in May of 2009, I had been looking at this weekend as one that Benjamin would come along for. As you know if you’ve been here before, I went to school at Kansas State University and lived in the Kansas City area after I graduated. My home and family are in California, but my heart is in Kansas.

Benjamin has never been outside of California, Arizona and Nevada. One time, he thought he was somewhere else, but he wasn’t. When he was 5, we took a family trip to visit friends in Tucson. Once we crossed out of California, we stopped and ate at an IHOP, and he asked me, “Daddy, are we still on Earth or are we in Arizona?” Sure enough, we were in Arizona.

This weekend though, he gets to go to my favorite state in the Union, Kansas! Since we’re flying Delta through Minneapolis to Kansas City, Mo., before driving 20 minutes to the Sunflower State, I’ve prepped him that he’s going to be in four states in one day! California, Minnesota, Missouri and Kansas! Talk about a super-sized serving of awesome!

He’s excited about getting on a plane, we’re going to the Kansas State-Kansas football game Thursday night, visiting Kansas State University on Friday, heading back to the Kansas City area later in the day, then I have the marathon on Saturday, we fly to Denver a little later in the day and I have another marathon on Sunday.

Along the way, we’ll be seeing quite a few friends and having a lot of fun. It’s the first and only time Benjamin and Tiffany will be joining me on an Operation Jack weekend this year, and it’s going to be a fun one. Plus, I’m excited for them to see what I’ve been doing all year. I’m like a kid at open house in grade school where the parents come in and you get to show off your desk. This is what my year has been, and I’m so proud to show them. I have to think it’s going to be a weekend we’re all going to remember 40 years from now and it’s going to be awesome.

But, …

Why This Was Almost The Worst Weekend Of The Year
Jack is on a very complex routine from his DAN doctor. He has 27 different supplements he’s on and Tiff has been doing an amazing job keeping him on his schedule. It’s a lot of work but we’ve seen a lot of progress, so it’s a critical element of what we do with him daily. When I say “we” I mean “Tiff,” because she’s the one who does this. I do small things to help here and there, but since she’s with him so much, she leads the charge. This created a problem on Tuesday and Wednesday. In going through this new effort over the past few months, she has formed an incredibly tight bond with Jack. Don’t be mistaken — she was extremely close with him before, as any mother with a special-needs child would be. But this has taken it to a whole new level.

So, she’s extremely nervous about anybody taking responsibility for the routine. It’s going to be her mom, whom she probably trusts with this even more than me. But it’s not easy. And I’m sure her mom is on edge about this a little bit. It’s a huge undertaking. Plus, with that super-tight bond, she’s going to miss him like she’d miss oxygen.

On Tuesday night, she decided she just couldn’t bring herself to go on the trip. I was pretty upset about that with how it impacted me. I was so excited about her and Benjamin coming along, and if she didn’t go, Ben wouldn’t go. I normally get homesick when I’m gone. It’s worse on longer trips. And it would have been absolutely miserable going four days knowing that every step of the way, they should have been there with me. I love going to Kansas, but it would have been a terribly depressing weekend for me.

I didn’t tell her any of that, though. I didn’t give her an opinion. I didn’t want to try to sway her one way or the other. I wanted her to make the decision she felt most comfortable with. If she didn’t want to go, that was her decision and I’d live with that. I would never pressure her into leaving Jack for four days if she couldn’t handle it.

I told her that I supported whatever choice she made, and she got a little mad at me when I didn’t have an opinion, because she had to try to guess what I was thinking. I had no gut feeling as to which way she’d decide, so I let it go.

I texted her Wednesday morning at 9:34 with the following message:
Let me know a) if you want to go to Chipotle and b) if you make a final decision on KS.

Chipotle was obviously the most important issue on my mind, because who doesn’t want to have a pretty girl as a lunch date? But I also needed to know if I needed to make some alternate arrangements. She’s normally pretty good at getting back to my texts, but I didn’t hear from her for an hour. At 10:45, I bugged her again.

Hellloooooooooo?

I think I might have had a key on my phone stuck or something. 45 seconds later, I got a response.

Oops! No lunch too busy getting ready for trip. 🙂

And so, as I write this on the plane from seat 15A, she’s in 16E, next to Benjamin in 16F. Yeah, this is gonna be the best weekend ever!


How’s this for a schedule? Those are instructions for Jack.

Still Have To Take Care Of Business, Though
I do have a couple of marathons to run this weekend. Operation Jack is the purpose of the trip. I have Kansas City on Saturday and Denver on Sunday. I always take things one race at a time, and in this case, I’m really focusing on Kansas City.

I ran this course in 2008 and turned in a 3:04:59, my fifth-fastest of 76 lifetime marathons, and one of the better efforts I’ve ever turned in. Six days earlier, I ran a 3:06 in Long Beach and struggled with a tight hamstring. My hamstring wasn’t any better for Kansas City, which is a tougher course with a few good hills. I was short on sleep because my airline lost my luggage and I had to wait for my bag, so I only had about four hours.

I was running Wichita the next day, and while I’ve gotten pretty good at running doubles, that was only the second time I had done that. Mentally, it takes a lot to really wreck yourself when you know you’re facing a 200-mile drive and a marathon the next day. But I gave it all I had and kicked hard at the end to come in sub-3:05, getting there by one second. I was pretty happy with that one, although pretty spent. Somehow, I was able to turn in a 3:09 the next day.

Well, I have incentive to run pretty hard on Saturday. Like, money! A friend of mine from college, Dan Merker, is running his first full marathon in that race. He’s expecting to run somewhere around 3:55 – 4:00 and he’s donating 10 cents for every second I beat him by. The difference between a 3:09 and a 3:29 is going to be $120. I have another Operation Jack supporter named Jeff Goodman who is running Long Beach on Sunday and pledging $2 for every minute I beat him by.

So, I don’t know what I have in me right now, but I’m going to find out, because I’m going to empty the tank as well as I can. I always go all out, but I’m going to do everything I can to locate gears I haven’t found since the spring. I’m feeling good, although who knows how I’ll be at mile 16?

Oh, and of course, Sunday. 26.2 miles at elevation. I’ll look at the course profile on Saturday night. I’ve heard it’s fairly flat. Whatever it is, I’ll give it my best and post a report.

And That’s Pretty Much It
Have a great weekend, y’all! I’ll get a race report from Kansas City posted at some point on Saturday.