Directors’ View:  2011 Tallahassee Marathon / Half Marathon

Fast forward to four days before the marathon, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011.  Unbeknownst to us, our Registration Coordinator comes down with a nasty bout of food poisoning and her husband’s mother is involved in a fatal car accident.  We discover this sometime early Thursday by another key player in most GWTC events, Peg Griffin, who offers to take over that evening for Cynthia Christen at registration / packet pickup at the DoubleTree Hotel.  Packet stuffing on Thursday evening is uneventful, other than the fact that a box marked as having 1000 bags actually has only something like 850.  No worries - we had enough of stuffing in the hour it took to empty the box of bags.  Making the best of our time, we were able to discuss course marking and mile marker placement, registration, expo, and race day procedures with some of our core group of volunteers.

Friday afternoon comes and everything goes off without a hitch at registration / packet pickup and Nancy has been to TCC for expo setup also.  We receive a call and discover that one of our friends who will be staying with us has arrived, only problem is we forgot about him!  No worries - our house is his house for the next two days.  Registration comes to a close and we come to realize we have far more ‘stuff’ than a single truck and a station wagon can transport to the Expo site.  Panic starts to creep in, phone calls are made, Facebook and Listserve messages are sent. Much to our combined relief spontaneous help is offered.  Sleep is deep if not long that night and it is a good thing because we will not have much for the following 40 or so hours.

Saturday morning begins at the DoubleTree and with the help of about eight or ten others we are able to easily pack up the remaining packets, registration and other supplies into four vehicles.  These are transported to TCC at the Expo site.  Nancy stays there to coordinate set up while I run back home to check in with our animals and make sure all of the mile marker signs have been picked up by another key player in all GWTC events, Bill Lott.  Mission accomplished, I return to TCC and Nancy and I step out to eat a quick lunch at the Wendy’s across the street.  I’d like to say it was the calm before the storm, but both of us were ‘freaked out’, me concerning race day equipment, and Nancy concerning the Expo and Pasta Dinner.

My personal highlight from Saturday is going to the FSU Track to meet our timing contractor, Neil, who will be depositing scaffolding and other race day equipment on the side of the track.  It has been raining for the past 24 hours, the meteorologists were saying that it was going to be clear that afternoon, and I was standing in a driving rain.   I begin to worry about the weather for Sunday.  At about that moment I see bibbed runners going north on Chieftain Way and I realize I am in the epicenter of the Krispy Kreme Challenge.  There goes Brian Corbin and Keith Gates.  What silliness!  Neil arrives and we discuss the madness which is the Krispy Kreme Challenge.  Fortunately, it is raining so the marathon course will be washed clean!  My stress levels have returned to near normal.

Back at the Expo, Nancy is answering questions, talking with exhibitors/sponsors, checking emails and getting more packets done (we got more bags!).  In the banquet room we sort through our door prizes for giving out before dinner.  We then handle questions from volunteers and sponsors alike in the hall for a few minutes before returning to the banquet room to find some of our better door prizes have been stolen.  Exasperated, Nancy goes home to feed our animals while I remain at the expo. 

At sometime around 5 pm the food and drinks for the pasta dinner are delivered.   Unfortunately since our food coordinator for the dinner has come down with the flu, we are unable to figure out a couple of things and dinner is delayed 9 minutes.  No worries - most are comfortably in discussion with others there.  The food was great and before long we introduce Carolyn Mather (on time).  For those of you who missed her talk, let’s just say Carolyn has some very interesting experiences volunteering at major running events, including the Boston Marathon.  She was a graduate student here at FSU and she attributes here running career to Tim Simpkins who recognized her talent as a runner while she was a student at FSU.

Sunday morning began for us at 4:10 am.  I left to set up a parking area for one of our primary sponsors, Community Coffee.  I was greeted with jeers and the words ‘where have you been’ by Sheryl Rosen and her volunteers David Yon, and Dean Mayo.  Nancy arrived shortly thereafter and we began to set up the track area and the inside of the Tully Gym for registration.  Sometime during this time period we both noticed that the sky was clear.  It was going to be a glorious day to run.  The temperature was in the low 40s, not the low 30s, and it was clear.

The next set of calamities were about to begin.  I receive a phone call from someone by the name of Esteban traveling by car from Lakeland and his driver is lost.  Directions to the start are recited and I hastily have to hang up the phone to make announcements as it is 7:15.  About then Nancy asks me ‘Where is Sarah Dugas ?’, our National Anthem singer - I am clueless.  I receive another phone call.  This time from the TPD wanting to know when the race starts!   We then get everyone to the start by 7:30 and there is still no sign of Sarah.   The race will start without a National Anthem.   At something like 7:33 am off the field goes, without a wheelchair for the first time since I have directed the event.  About five minutes later four police motorcycles go speeding past the start in pursuit of the runners!

There is something about the brief moment when the last runner crosses the starting line and is running away from us that is totally calming.  However, this does not last long.  I am off to the track to assist with last minute setup and Nancy with a crew is picking up discarded clothing to bring to the track.  There is a window of 1:10:10 until the course record for the half marathon is shattered by Jonathon Mott.  Jonathan, you could have given us a little more time!  Directors’ note:  George Towett, owner of the Marathon Course record, 2:20:30, went through the half way pt. of the marathon in 1:08:05 on his way to victory in 2009.

Wow, things are finally starting to look up!  Sometime during that 1:10:10 we discern that Jude and Sarah were late because they were picking up the bagels for the finish area and one of two Brueggers Bagel ovens malfunctioned (does this mean the bagels burnt up?) and therefore the order was running late.  No worries - the bagels are received and delivered by Jude and Sarah.  We check in with the FSU First Responders, the timing folks, and food and finish area volunteer staff.  Brian Bachman arrives with the awards and Shanna Ryberg-Pearson arranges them in order for each race’s awards ceremony.

At this point we believe we have the monkey off our back, and before long the first marathon runner is coming around the track.  It’s Esteban Vanegas, who miraculously made it to the start about the time Nancy hit the siren button on the blow horn.  Another course record bites the dust, the male master’s record is now 2:28:38.  He is closely followed by Jerome Recker and Justin Gillette.  And then here comes fellow Imitation Adult, Karen Harvey, and she is going to break the female open course record.  The tears well up as Nancy announces this, as she knows this is Karen’s first attempt at the distance and she must have run a fabulous race.  Karen does so handily in 2:43:33 as the fourth place finisher overall and then collapses in the finish area.  We get the FSU First Responders to check her and I go off looking for the Mayor Marks who is about to present the half marathon awards.  He is late arriving, so I start the awards without him.

Once I have nearly completed naming the top five male and female finishers the Mayor arrives and makes a few announcements before stating he must leave for another engagement!  At this time I again take control of the microphone and continue on with the age group awards.  At few minutes later Nancy runs up to the awards area, white as ghost, and states very clearly she needs to make an announcement.  She announces that if anyone in the audience knows a Mr. Tall to please report to the finish area.  From that point forward the rest of the half marathon awards ceremony seemed to be in slow motion for me.  I was aware that something very serious was going on but I had no idea how serious.  That was until I actually was nearly finished with the awards, the crowd had thinned out, and I became aware of EMT vehicles and an ambulance on the FSU track.

By now you all probably know that, thankfully, Mr. Tall survived a heart attack which occurred about 80 meters from finishing his half marathon.  This was in no small part due to the immediate response of several participants, including Allison Thumm, who administered CPR until the FSU First Responders arrived.  A short time later they were joined by Leon County EMS and through all of their combined efforts they were able to successfully resuscitate Mr. Tall.  At the time this was occurring a large number of finishers were shocked to have to witness this as they finished their marathon or half marathon.  The only way I can think of to describe the scene was one of surrealism.  Was this actually occurring; yes it was.

Fortunately, the remainder of the event was without incident for the rest of the participants and staff.  And with that we all pray for the recovery of Mr. Tall.  Apparently our prayers have been heard, as Mr. Tall is now nearly ready to be released from the hospital after receiving corrective surgery for coronary artery blockage.   We would like to thank all of you for your support through what has been a difficult time for us as directors.

What does the future hold for the Tallahassee Marathon?  Part of it depends on you, the community of runners, sponsors, and others who make this event possible.  As in past years we have an online participant’s survey on our marathon website.  If you participated, please take the time to fill out the survey at www.tallahasseemarathon.com.  Our intention is to move the full marathon course back to the St. Marks Trail next year.  Logistically, it was nearly twice as costly to run the course into Southwood as it would have been if we could have utilized the St. Marks Trail.  In a few weeks we will have a better idea of where we stand fiscally from this year’s event.  We will again be in the black; however, I expect the proceeds from this year’s race to be reduced because of the aforementioned logistics with the new course.

Happy Trails,

Jay and Nancy