In February of 1972 when I ran 2:25:35 [for third] at the Trail’s End Marathon in Seaside, Oregon, I passed Gerry Lindgren with 2.5 miles to go. I said, “Hang tough” and got a “Hi” in return. Now, beating Gerry was cool, but I’m savvy enough to know that beating Gerry Lindgren [fifth in 2:27:47] didn’t make me as good as he was. What was so memorable to me was he spied me at the post-race chili feed and came over and said, “How could you look so tough when you passed me.”
To have him remember me and to give me that compliment was an overwhelming gesture. – Jim Pearson
The old man leaned into a steamy humid breeze and remembered another race day.
10th Annual Trail’s End Marathon. Seaside, Oregon. February 24, 1979.
He was young and he was lean and he was fit. Needed a qualifying time for Boston. At his age, needed a sub-3:00-hour marathon. Sorta out and back, sorta real flat, he’d run the race before.
2:59:59 shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Remember waking. Dark stinging darts, sheets of lateral rain and strong, strong, gusty winds from the south. Race heads north and everybody takes off like a bat out of hell from the gun. Oh, yeah. Sweet tailwind. Remember thinking, those poor bastards have never run that fast before. You’re gonna have to turn around halfway. Save some energy.
Nobody listened. He ran negative splits, faster into the headwinds. Felt like Prefontaine, racing through a crowd of stumbling zombies. 2:59:44. Good for 214th. Okay, he had to push some the last ten kilometers. Didn’t leave himself much cushion. More exciting that way.
He remembered sitting in a hotel room, next to the finish line. Beer in hand, showered and dressed in full-length red nylon warmup suit by Frank Shorter Sports, he scanned out the big picture window. Which rattled.
His initial wife chose this race day to run her first marathon.
She made it. One of the slower zombies. He was so proud of her.
They divorced shortly thereafter.
http://trailsendmarathon.com/53.html
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That wasn’t the first Trail’s End for him. There was 1976. Bumper cars and pigging down on Scandinavian pancakes with mooseberry jelly and running a marathon like it was an adventure and – if you survived – you got to go to Dairy Queen and down a Peanut Buster Parfait.
And looking at my diary, I am reminded of the importance of good coaching.
Tuesday, it’s 43 degrees Fahrenheit and “absolutely pouring!” Ran 20.6 miles because that first wife – she was most supportive – blinded by the rain, couldn’t find me. “Very rewarding run for my confidence’s sake.”
Wednesday, 10K in the morning. “Somewhat stiff, inside left knee achy.” Five miles easily in the evening. “Left knee so painful I was forced to abbreviate run.”
Thursday, two easy runs of 5.7 miles. “Left leg interferes with normal running but not too painful until the last couple of miles” in the morning and even better later on.
Friday, 10K easy in the morning. “Leg seems improved.” (169.5 lbs. Carbo-loaded like a pro.)
Saturday February 28. 11:30 a.m. Seventh Annual Trail’s End Marathon. 576 finishers.
110. John Welch M 29 Salem 2:51:19 http://trailsendmarathon.com/26.html
A Personal Best, but not by much. Still, a PR.
“Temperature probably 45 degrees (F) plus or minus, indeed possibly all, since the weather consisted of rain, sleet, snow, hail and hampering headwinds. Really quite pleased with my performance, as I was so overweight and had not really planned to race. My sixth marathon, my sixth PB.”
Running Diaries Vol. IV. ’75-’76
The legs got worse, I got faster and I never reached my full potential as the World’s Slowest Professional Runner.
Today, I hobble.
Proudly.
But I weigh the same today. Ha! The last laugh. So, there’s that.
I think of Jim Pearson as The Godfather of the Trail’s End Marathon.
Coincidentally, he’s just put together a book of his running diaries of the era.
Here’s his take on the ’76 race.
The sore throat! I woke up with a bloody sore throat. After being sick for four weeks, I thought I’d shaken the cold or flu or whatever it is. Added to this problem, the weather was miserable. It was super windy with mixed rain and snow in a cold manner. I didn’t want to run but somehow felt committed to the race. I was quite nervous (primarily because I wanted to run a sub 2:20, the weather was against that, and it would look bad just giving up) and tried in vain to put the race out of my mind.
I guess I managed the latter quite well since I didn’t even get ready to leave the motel until 11:15. Then I had to drive across town. At 11:25 I jogged 150 yards, changed shoes, greased up, and headed toward the line. They called out, “55 seconds to go,” as I approached. I just had time to squeeze in and get ready to go. I took off quicker than expected since many of the 849 starters were pushing. I had trouble staying afloat for the first 220, but then things eased up. I tucked in with Sam Ring and cruised along. We hit the mile in 5:20, the two in 10:38, and the three with the same ease in 15:48.
That’s when my right foot and lower leg went numb. I had felt some tightness in my calf earlier. It must have been caused by the lack of warm up, the orthotic, or both. I began to slow. We crossed five in 27:07. I was around 30th and not reacting too well mentally. I was just discouraged about my log-like right foot, but I think it was more than that. I lost a lot of ground and hit 10 in 54:43. Around nine, my foot started to burn as feeling came back, and by 10 miles it was fine. I began to pick it up. I caught Patenaude at 13 as we started over the Surf Pines area and made a strong effort to lose him. I did and then went after Sam Ring. I had been 26th at 10 and by 15 was 17th in 1:22:09.
I continued to force the pace as the weather continued to worsen (we’d only had one hailstorm, two batches of hot sun, and some rain and sleet during the first half). The wind blew into us most of the second half, and wind, rain, sleet, and snow made the going tough. I crossed 20 miles in 15th place with a 1:49:35 clocking. I was tired but hauling. The last six got even worse. I put my mittens back on and tried to be tough but actually faded more than usual as I passed 25 in 2:18:32 and then finished 12th in 2:25:25, my third best marathon mark and my best-ever at Seaside.
I wasn’t all that tired. I didn’t drink anything and had no problems because of it. I’m pretty unhappy about my lack of toughness. I just don’t seem to put in the right effort when things really count, and the pressure is applied. I don’t know what I’m going to do about it.
From a soon-to-be-appearing training tome.
Somebody who should probably get her own chapter in Super Girl! was eleven-year-old Debbie Koffel, first “woman” in 3:04:26.
One more thing about running a marathon if you want to be real good. Here’s a pro tip. A heads-up, if you will.
The legendarily tough Gerry Lindgren compliments Jim Pearson for his apparent toughness. And yet a few years later, when Jim posted a top performance, he is “pretty unhappy about my lack of toughness.”
Toughness may seem inherent, but it is also muscle, which needs constant tuning.
You can get tougher. And being tough will cut minutes off your time.
Personally found it easier than getting faster.
How tough was Debbie Koffel, I wonder.
Pretty tough, I’ll bet.
Can’t find my 1977 diary, not yet nor recently, but I’m guessing I was injured or otherwise unavailable. My name is not among a list of sub-three-hour finishers. All the proof I need.
Sixteen-year-old Irene Griffiths led the ladies at 2:55:34, 143rd of 704 finishers. Sixteen was about the average age of the first six “women” with ten-year-old Julie Mullin runner-up with a 2:58:01.
Seventeen-year-old Clancy Devery from Salem, Oregon, a haut bed of road running at the time, set an age-group World Best of 2:23:05. He let me jog with him a time or two. Well, he was jogging, tempo workout for me.
Both Brian Maxwell and John Bramley managed to pass away far too early, so I reached out to Ron Wayne.
I have very few memories from Trails End Marathon (Seaside) in both 1974 and 1977. If I remember correctly, the course was mostly on country roads with a lot of turns, so at times you couldn’t see too far in front of you.
Other than that, I remember going to Safeway the night before the race and buying a package of coffee rolls (think that is what it was called in the 70’s?) that was a doughy pastry with raisins inside and white icing on top. I ate all 8 rolls that night.
The only other memory was the finish – a sidewalk along the beach and it was the only time there were spectators.
The old man was listening to Brave New World.
Remembered enjoying the book in college.
What’s not to like about ubiquitous sex and drugs and STABILITY.
“Ending is better than mending…. The more stitches, the less riches.”
All the book meant now was a prescient warning, apt and current.
He turned.
He had himself a tailwind now.
He walked on.
I’m telling you. Trail’s End was an excellent test back when running was young and so were we.
“In 74, I was the first person in the world to run 4 sub-2:20 marathons in the same calendar year with Seaside the first one of the 4 and in 77, I was the first person in the world to run 5 sub-2:20’s with Seaside being the first of 5.” – Ron Wayne