My legs were dead from the start. On June 19, 2022, I finished the San Juan Island Marathon on San Juan Island, Washington. This race was my sixth marathon finish in 8 weeks.
This race was eight days after last week’s Governor’s Cup Marathon finished in 5:27.
San Juan Island is the most populous of the five islands in the San Juan Archipelago. The islands are directly south of Vancouver, Canada, with a channel to the east and a channel to the west.
Until the 1850s, the islands were disputed property of Britain and the United States. Britain wanted to use the eastern channel as a boundary, and the US wanted the western channel.
The treaty resulting from the Pig War set the boundary as the western channel between the islands and Vancouver Island.
There was no published time limit. However, the last scheduled bus back to parking was for 5 hours and 30 minutes after the marathon started.
I drove the course on Saturday except for finding the turnaround in the first mile. The distance between the start point and finish line was shorter than 26.2 miles. So, organizers added an out and back away from the finish to the start.
The certification map poorly defined the turnaround and mile-one locations in words and pictures. So, I was not able to find those points on Saturday. I made an assumption. Oops.
They advertised the course as hilly. My pre-ride confirmed the description.
I planned to proceed at 5 miles per hour, walking the ups and running the downs and flats. I used the ultra mantra, “if it looks up, it is.”
I used my count-down timer to remind me to drink every 20 minutes.
The race started at the Cattle Point Interpretive Center just north of the Cattle Point Lighthouse. The course used the roads on the southern and western parts of the island and finished at the Lakedale Resort.
The course was open to traffic. We ran facing traffic until just before mile 23. After that, the road had enough shoulder to run with traffic to our back.
Race day weather was a 47-degree dew point with a 53-degree temperature at 7:30 am, rising to 57 by my expected finish, cloudy skies, and a five mph tailwind for most of the race.
I’m glad I stayed on the island. The 5 am ferry was canceled, and many half-marathon runners were late for their start.
My hotel was a 5-minute walk to the Friday Harbor High School. We were required to take a bus from the high school to the finish line and another bus from the finish line to the start line.
I caught the first bus at 6 am and the second at 6:40 am. Both trips used the same bus.
This bus had issues. The driver needed to restart the bus’s computer every time the bus went uphill. He did a good job, as the bus kept rolling while the motor stalled, and he did the reset.
He had more issues with a full bus on the drive to the start. I’m glad we didn’t have to get out and push.
We made it to the start at 7:10 am. There was one porta pot for the 30 runners. The line did not move fast enough, and the race started 10 minutes late.
I wore shorts over compression shorts, a singlet over a long-sleeved shirt, a ball cap, a neck gaiter, gloves, and my Saucony Triumph 19 shoes.
I carried a single bottle belt with UCAN topped with water at each aid station. I added another scoop of UCAN at miles 9 and 18.
There were no timing mats at the start. So, this race was gun time only. With 30 runners, we should be able to clear the start line in a couple of seconds.
Within the first 200 meters, I was in last place.
The field went past my assumed turnaround location. Then the field took a wrong turn off the main road. I should have known the course better. I followed them.
After a while, the lead runners started coming back toward me. I continued to the point they had turned around. I see the mistaken turn and the 1-mile location on the way back. I went through the first mile in 17:24 and assumed the error cost me six minutes.
I’m able to continue with my walk the ups plan. There was a 10.5% upgrade in the second mile, and I maintained a 13:03 pace.
I made it through the half-marathon in 2:51:27, a 2:45 without the bonus time at the start.
In the second half, I started slower and tapered. I was not making up time on the downhills.
Around mile 17, I got lightheaded and was seeing flashing lights. I’m not sure if it was dehydration or low oxygen.
A little later, I saw a runner about a 1/2 mile ahead of me. I had not seen her since mile 4. This mirage helped me push a little.
About mile 20, I decided to walk it on in. The downhills were not going well, and my wheels started coming off. I did get through mile 20 in 4:32:19.
About mile 24, I saw a different marathoner about a 1/4 mile ahead of me running with a friend. The carrot helped me keep moving, and the other runner’s friend helped her keep away.
I ran most of the final mile, doing the second half in 3:24:42. My marathon PR is faster than that. Yuck.
I finished 30th overall in 6:16:09, last place, 14th male, and the only finisher older than 49. So, I was first in the male 60 to 69-year-old age group.
This finish was my 78th marathon in my 43rd state.
Traffic was OK until mile 9. After that, it was problematic. There was heavy traffic in the last 3 miles. I didn’t have an issue, but I needed to slow some cars to avoid bottlenecking at the runner in front of me.
There were companion half-marathon and 10km races that had about 90 finishers. The event was not well advertised, the website was out of date, and the only way to find how to register was one Facebook post.
There was a posted course map but no other details until six days before the race. The emails I sent were never answered. We received a detailed email six days before the race. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
The last bus did leave at 1 pm. A couple of friendly race volunteers drove 5 of us back to parking in their private vehicles.
Except for the advertising and cars on the course, this well-organized marathon had a beautiful, interesting route.
Not the best result. I’m not ready to register for JFK. I’ll have to see a doctor in July to ensure everything is OK. Maybe I’ll do a 50km in August. It looks like JFK will be a last-minute decision again this year.