October Marathon Madness is here!

Mike Parker does it again, here is what he had to say about his St. George Marathon:

I am super excited about the results, even though I could have done better.

Finish time was 2:52:32

At the start, it was very cold, and windy.  I was really struggling to stay warm, and I had a hard time warming up.

Even though I started near the front, it was very crowded, and the pace was slow.  I wanted to run a 4:05 pace to start, but I struggled to do so.  First 10 km was over 41 minutes.  At the half way point, I was a little over 1:28:00 (way too slow).  The second half I completed in under 1:24.  The last 10.2 km, I completed in 40:28.  I finished very strong, and passed many people in the last 2 km.  I felt very tired at the end, but great.  No cramping or pain.  I was thrilled!  I was so excited walking back to my hotel, I kept running to run back instead of walk.

I am very proud of the progression I have made.  I started working with you on 4-Jun-2010.

Here are the marathon results since we started.

Top of Utah marathon    18-Sep-2010     3:46:25

Salt Lake City marathon 16-Apr-2011     3:22:21

Mesa falls marathon     27-Aug-2011     3:48:36

Windermere Marathon     19-May-2012     3:13:50

St George marathon      06-Oct-2012     3:05:36

Boston marathon         15-Apr-2013     3:10:51

I almost improved one hour since the 2010 race. Today, I improved my personal best by 13 min and 4 seconds.  That is fantastic.  I am also extremely pleased that I finished strong, and felt ok at the end.  That is a real progression for me.

I am so proud to have run a sub 3 hour marathon.

I have been very diligent in following your program you laid out, and the results are amazing.

Thanks coach.

Heather Wiebe pushed our her fastest marathon in 25 years!  Here is what she had to say about her race in Portland:

I am delighted with my time....it is the fastest marathon I have run since B.C.    ( before children) and years before that!! 18 years u think!? It is a pb BC!! So your magic is working!

I will be 50 in 2014 so I am still gunnin' to run another sub 3:00....,just 25 years later!

The weather was race order perfect but the course IS tough - tons of undulating hills and bridges - hard to get a rhythm. However I achieved my goal and that the inspiration for another.

So many thanks for your brilliant coaching, planning and patience!