The race report originally appeared in Track & Field News.
Martin Takes Marathon Lead
Sacramento, December 2 – Ken Martin ran 2:11:24 to win the California International Marathon, the final race of the 1984 ARRA Championship Circuit. The former Oregon steeplechaser won $12,000 and set a course record in his debut race.
Better yet, the 26-year-old Martin qualified to represent the U.S. in the inaugural World Championships Marathon in Hiroshima in April. Oh, yes, this race was one of those TAC Championships events – eight of the first fourteen finishers being foreigners notwithstanding – so Martin is officially U.S. marathon champion.
Maybe most noteworthy is the fact that Martin is the slowest U.S. marathon leader since the days of Barney Rubble and Fred Flintstone. We’re talking about running when guys dragged their knuckles on the ground. We’re talking before Jim Fixx invented running; when Fred Lebow worked in the garment business; when even this reporter could dream of winning a race.
We’re talking 1974 and Frank Shorter – who invented running clothing – and his 2:11:32. Martin’s 27th on the ’84 World List earns the lowest U.S.-leader listing since another 27th placer, Norm Higgins (2:18:26) in 1966. Has the Dash For Cash changed to the Plod For Poverty?
Blessed with excellent marathon weather, which included fog and temperatures in the mid-40s, Martin began his race with caution and optimism. He was in good form; it was experience he lacked, so he ran in the large lead pack through 20 miles.
Scotsman Fraser Clyne made a strong surge at that point, taking Martin, Swede Kjell-Erik Stahl and South African Derrick May along with him.
Martin was the only one who could follow another Clyne move at 23M. It wasn’t easy but Martin held on tenaciously until the final mile. Using his 3:57.84 miling speed, Martin covered the final mile in 4:45 to break Martii Kiilholma’s course best of 2:13:35 and best Clyne by 26 seconds.
The winner had little to say – “I felt great until I stopped” – which is more than most people can offer after racing 26.2 miles.
Here’s what he remembers
The race was easy, like a prelim, sit and kick. Coming from Arizona the cool weather at CIM felt great. A race director watching from the lead truck noticed I wasn’t even sweating at 10k, he then thought I would win.
I wore a dicky and gloves until I could feel myself starting to sweat underneath, then I pulled them off.
Never struggled, in spite of a large water blister on my foot an a slightly sore hamstring around 18. Took off at 25, ran 4:44 last mile.
What else about this race? The first 20, what’s going through your head? How had you prepped? Tell me a story. Do my work for me.
Coming off the Olympic trials and summer Olympics (former wife competing) it had been a long fall, waiting to get to this marathon in early December. I was glad it was finally time to race.
My build-up was unremarkable other than my tempo times had dropped about 20 seconds per mile from the spring – I still only ran them for 20 minutes, none longer than that. My weekly mileage maybe barely broke 100 miles, but most likely upper 90’s. I increased my long run to 2 hours. This was before GPS/HR watches. I just ran how I felt, but I suspect many of those miles were under 6:00 pace.
I did carbo depletion and loading the week of the marathon. I had my own drinks out on the course. While drinking one of my bottles, another runner reached out his hand toward me in hopes I’d share the bottle. I couldn’t believe it, this was a marathon, why didn’t he prepare? I’d measured and mixed the bottles in my hotel room, and was going to down the entire bottle, as planned. It seemed somewhat selfish, but I thought if he was going to risk his race on not being prepared, then that was his problem. I wasn’t going to make dehydration my problem by foregoing some of my fluids.
If we were stranded in a desert, that would be different. I’d never heard of a driver giving another car fuel during the Indy 500. That’s racing.
My aged memories of that first marathon.
