Why the 30th Guam Marathon was just Too Much Fun!

The marathon, almost by definition, evokes a sense of mystery. The allure of the marathon exerts an especially powerful pull on the imagination of the runner contemplating doing one for the first time. We look deep inside and ask ourselves whether we could ever really pull one off.

Simply to run the 26.2 miles continuously from start to finish and look almost decent at the end is compelling. To gain the bragging rights amidst kith and kin who already consigned us to some sort of nuttiness a long time ago, makes the draw almost irresistable. Your accomplishment is certain to be reverently rehearsed at family reunions, amidst nervous laughter, in the same breath as they dissect your bungee jumping episode (the event that accelerated your already alarming rate of hair loss through adrenalin infusion overload!). Running the marathon ranks right up there with sky diving and rock climbing and, yet, it's much safer than either. Running the marathon almost puts you in league with those National Geographic photographers, who live on platforms in the Rain forest canopy brunching with Macaws and other exotic creatures.

The 30th Guam Marathon was no exception, being full of mystery and having many participants for whom this was their very first marathon! The fun began already at the carbo-loading party at Matapan Park in Tumon. The vegetarian and non-vegetarian spaghetti, Joanne Bonine's deviled eggs, the varieties of high-octane, complex carbohydrate rich salads and fruits were fantastic. Ed Barcinas, from Rota, was so stoked that you could almost see his muscles firing like pistons...why the man was virtually ready to run the event right then and there! To top it all off, we were regaled by a drop-dead gorgeous sunset and a perfectly cool and breezy evening.

The morning of the marathon was nearly perfect. Only a bit of rain on the course threatened an otherwise ideal event. Thankfully, the rain went away after a couple horrendous cloudbursts. No one complained much as things dried out well for the major portion of the course. Especially nice was the fact that the near-legendary headwinds on the back road to Andersen never materialized. Some years you can find yourself fighting steady 14-20 mph headwinds for the entire first half-marathon only to have them mysteriously die out after you've turned the second half of the course where you had hoped at least they'd serve as tail winds to the finish.

Another fun feature that started this marathon off was the Christmas tree-look that resulted from all the runners blinking in formation at the start. Marsh ordered flashers with the GRC logo on them for all participants and they were a real hit. Half of running a marathon, afterall, is having the proper attire.

Apparently the flashers were such a winner, some runners refused to part with them well after the race was done. Rob Wocking continued to wear his, in flashing mode, on his shorts under his dress slacks at the awards banquet! (which really means he just didn't shower before the banquet, but threw his clean clothes over his running stuff and joined the festivities.)

For me, personally, what was fun was seeing the screen-door wide open grin on Bill DeBenedictus's face throughout the course. The guy just blazed through the course looking as fresh at the end as he did at the start! Bill was so tough that I never did put down the cone for the 19 mile mark, I had to just skip it and go to 20 in order to stay ahead of him. And throughout the race it was obvious he was having too much fun. As an official course rover I was almost duty bound to pull over several people and issue citations for having too much fun...they just were having more fun than anyone running a marathon should be expected to have. But have fun they did!

Now the loneliest guys on the marathon were our medical volunteers. Like the Maytag repairman, who never gets any business, Dr. Rocyski and Dr. Weare were equally unemployed. It was great that we had two medical doctors on site but had no actual situations which required their special services. Both Docs generously donated their time and services to make our marathon a safe one. For their presence we were very thankful. So what did they do? Dr. Rocyski read the morning paper and Dr. Weare worked the crossword puzzle.

Now not only did the soloists make this marathon an event. But the unprecedented number of relay teams added immeasurably to the fun. We had 16 Ekiden relay teams!

So, thank you to all who came out and either helped as volunteers (and there were many of you!Thank you Nancy Hawkins et al.) or ran the course. Thank you to the PIC Club for the wonderful post-race awards banquet. And thank you to those GRC Running Club officers who spent a good portion of the past year in the planning and preparation for the 30th Anniversary run of the Guam Marathon. It was fun, simply too much fun. We'll just have to do it again next year and see if we can make it even better.

In it for the Long Run,

Neil Culbertson, GRC Prez
4-06-01