Article about 1999 MMTR by John Dodds, 1st Time 50 Miler

Dear David:

Your race report (that I read some time ago) said you'd like to hear from
runners. A little late, but here goes:

At the time of MMTR, I had been running a little over 2 years and ran 9
marathons. MMTR was my first attempt at 50. I talked to you before signing
up, and you gave me some tips on what shoes to wear, what/how much to eat
during the race, etc.

As race day approached, I decided I needed some kind of a plan (strategy is
too ostentatious for me). I had run Forest Monster in New York in August and
met someone there who had run MMTR several years ago; he told me I could run
MMTR in 10 hours. So, one evening, I logged onto your site and looked at the
results from 1998. I picked out someone who finished in 10 hours and then
looked at his split times. His name? Eddie Midkiff. With my on-line pace
calculator and the MMTR elevation profile in hand, I looked at his pace at
various places and tried to figure out why it was faster or slower--hill,
the bus stop, later in race, etc. The night before the race (I didn't think
I'd have time in the morning), I wrote several of his split times on the
back of my hand.

The first time goal I had was 7:28 for Cashaw Creek. I arrived at 7:25. So
far, so good. As I headed into the woods, someone called out names. I heard:
"John Dodds, Eddie Midkiff." What? I couldn't believe it. Not only on the
flesh of my hand but in the real flesh (his). I turned around, introduced
myself to him, and explained how I "knew" all about him. What a stroke of
luck! From then on, I just followed his lead. He ran, I ran. He walked, I
walked. He was incredibly supportive as he knew this was my first 50:
"You're doing great, John" time and again. We ran to Highway 60. together.
We became separated there but linked up later for a period of time. (I
introduced him to the Gammons at Mile 43; I stayed with them the night
before).

Randy Schmitz joined Eddie and me at some point, and it was actually we
three who got to Highway 60 at the same time. Randy cleared that aid station
first, and I didn't see him again until the finish. I had thought we were on
about a 10:00 pace at the time, but he finished in 9:29. I asked him how he
could do that? He said he got his second wind in the Loop. I told him it was
more like he saw the Second Coming.

When I came out of the Loop, I realized I was getting a bad blister on my
heel. I stopped and had that tended to at mile 41. At about mile 44, I
linked up with Tom Baker, and we ran the rest of the way in. I had told him
of my goal of 10 hours and with several miles to go, he said "I don't want
to burst your bubble, but we aren't going to make it." I told him that if we
ran 7-minute miles the rest of the way, we could make it. We had a good
laugh at that one. Very late there was a long downhill gravel road, and he
went down it very quickly. He was about 75 yards ahead of me, then turned
and waved for me to come on. I yelled, "I'm trying." He slowed down, I sped
up, and we were together again. We came out on the paved road and had the
briefest of discussions whether we would try to outsprint the other to the
finish. We decided: "Nah." We tied for 49th place.

As for my goal: missed it by 4:45 (taken up by getting my heel looked at).
So, I was pleased.

What a great event!

    1. You said the volunteers treated us like kings. That is an
understatement. "What would you like to eat?" "Can I put that vaseline on
your arm for you?" "Can I take the top off your water bottle?" "Here, let me
put that bottle back in your pack." "Want any soup?" You must be paying them
a lot of money, David.

    2. The weather was perfect.

    3. I stayed with the Gammons as I said, and they were the best. They
took me to the pasta dinner, made sure I had everything I wanted, took a bag
for me that I had access to at miles 20 and 43, etc. I might come down next
year just so I can stay with them (even if I don't enter the race).

    4.  The camaraderie/fellowship (call it what you will) was something I
hadn't experienced in my previous marathons.

    5.  Almost forgot: personable race director.

My final thought: I think I could have picked an easier race for my first 50
(a thought that crossed my mind more than once in the Loop). But I wouldn't
trade that MMTR experience for the world.

Sincerely,

John