172: columbus marathon

Jason Reineke said running for more than three hours passes quickly, and this year he hopes to make it pass even quicker.

Reineke, a 28-year-old Ohio State doctoral student in the School of Communications will join about 10,000 people competing in Sunday's 28th annual, 26.2-mile Columbus Marathon. Thousands of students are expected to participate.

The race, which features a stretch through the OSU campus, will feature about 4,800 runners in the full marathon and another 5,200 for the half marathon, marathon spokeswoman Sarah Irvin said. Chair racing will also be included in the full marathon for those competing in wheelchairs.

Irvin said statistics are not kept on whether marathon participants are in college, but student runners could number in the thousands.

This will be Reineke's third-straight marathon appearance and he hopes to improve upon last year's 3-hour, 34-minute finish, which landed him in 775th place out of about 3,800 competitors. This was a seven-minute improvement from the year before.

For the year of training that Reineke puts into preparing for the race, he said this seven minutes "isn't a whole lot of time" to knock off.

Reineke usually begins his training in November with a "lighter" running schedule, in which he averages 30 to 40 miles of running per week until April. Then he kicks it up a notch by running about 50 miles per week until early October.

Once in the marathon, though, Reineke said concentrating on maintaining a pace and keeping track of the mile markers makes the time fly by.

"It takes a lot of attention and discipline to maintain your pace," Reineke said. He added that keeping track of his pace with each mile marker takes up much of his attention while running.

He said perhaps one of the most difficult parts of the race is the beginning, where runners are supposed to start the race according to how they think they will place. When some start the race too far in the front of the pack, Reineke said avoiding one another can become difficult.

"I'm used to being out running in the woods, so that stuff really takes your attention," said Reineke, who frequents the Olentangy Multi-Use Trail. The edge of the trail cuts through campus along the Olentangy River.

Then there is what runners refer to as "the wall" - the fatigue runners typically face when they hit the 18 to 22 mile markers.

Nate Bingman, who ran the previous two Columbus Marathons (last year, he finished 65th at 2 hours, 56 minutes, 40 seconds) and competed in the Boston Marathon in the spring, said "the wall" occurs just about the time runners hit the campus area.

"This is where your body really just starts to break down, and you contemplate why you didn't pick up bowling instead of running," Bingman, a senior in industrial and systems engineering, said in an e-mail.

"The descent down the hill on Lane Avenue from Upper Arlington really (wreaks) havoc on the quadricep muscles after they have gone through 21 miles of pounding. All the way from campus to the finish is a struggle, and you see it in the many number of runners who are reduced to walking by this point."

But for all the difficulty in the race, Reineke said for some, the hardest part might be finished before the race begins.

"For a lot of people, (it's) getting out the door in the morning (to stay in shape)," he said. "Sometimes, finding the right balance between school and running."

The Columbus Marathon begins at 7 a.m. for walkers and 8 a.m. for runners at the intersection of Broad and High Streets, with the finish line closing at 3 p.m.
Motorists can expect some delays Sunday if they plan to drive near the route of the Columbus Marathon.

About 10,000 runners, walkers and wheelchair racers are expected to participate in the 26.2-mile race or the 13.1-mile 1/2 Marathon that begins Downtown and winds through parts of the Near East Side, Bexley, German Village, Victorian Village, the University District and Upper Arlington.

Walkers start at 7 a.m. and runners take off an hour later.

"Whenever roads are closed Downtown, we get complaints," said Mary Carran Webster, the city's assistant public service director, but no more than with any other event involving street closures.

"We get calls from people wanting to know why a road is closed, why they can't get through and how they are supposed to get through."

There will be "rolling street closures," as the race participants come through. Streets will reopen once they pass.

"If you are at an intersection, the police do a good job of waiting until the runners spread out and letting cars cross to minimize how long they have to sit," Webster said.

The city and race sponsors try to publicize the race route ahead of time to let people know "there are going to be street closures and traffic delays," Webster said.

The race passes Lisa Elliott's house on N. Drexel Avenue in Bexley. She and her neighbors received a flier showing the estimated time they should expect to see the first participants.

"We love it," said Elliott, the mother of three children. "It is a big Columbus event and it is going right down our street."

One of her children has a soccer tournament Sunday, so Elliott plans to park around the corner on Maryland Avenue to avoid being blocked in by the race.

Babette Gorman, who also lives on Drexel about 4? miles into the race route, says the race usually has passed by the time she gets up.

"I'm a night owl," she said. "I stay up late and I sleep late. It is usually all over by the time I get going out of the house."

In German Village, Bill Nicewanger doesn't pay much attention as the runners pass his home on E. Deshler Avenue.

"As for traffic, we have all kinds of things in Columbus at different times that create little traffic diversions, so it is not a problem," he said.

Nicewanger said he parks in back of his home and uses the alleys if he needs to go somewhere when the race is going on.

Peter Fowler said he knows it is time for the race when he sees a portable toilet pop up near his home on Buttles Avenue. He often watches the race but has other plans this Sunday morning.

"I've already figured out how to get in and out of here," said Fowler, referring to an alley behind his home.
When training for a marathon at Camp Taji, Iraq, the term "runner's high" takes on a new meaning. One of the camp walls has a public market on the other side of it, and the market is a target for car bombs. Wall or no wall, the impact of these bombs can lift a non-com off his feet, as Senior Master Sgt. Sean Marchal, USAF, can attest.

One day last spring, a bomb went off as Marchal ran along the "safe" side of the wall.

"My feet kicked up, my arms flailed and up in the air I went," he said. "I looked to see if the Army people were running for cover because if they are, you know the situation is serious. I dusted myself off, took six more steps, and a second car bomb went off. Lifted me off my feet again. I still managed to finish the workout, but in a less-relaxed fashion. I don't think anyone can question my dedication to my sport."

Marchal laughed at his little joke. He has spent the past 22 years in the Air Force. He returned from Iraq in August and is on paid leave as he transitions to civilian life. He will begin as an air-traffic controller on a base in Riverside, Calif., next January. He is using the interim to indulge himself.

Marchal's plan for this weekend: Hole up in his hometown of Greenville, visit his family, run the Indianapolis Marathon, which was yesterday, visit his family, and run the Columbus Marathon, which is today.

Two marathons in two days -- is this man insane?

At Camp Taji, where he was embedded with Iraqi Air Force trainees in a dicey piece of the desert, he had to dodge mortar fire. He had to duck under his trailer when he realized that the zing-whiz-pops he was hearing was AK-47 fire. He dug bullets out of his aluminum home. Two marathons in two days? It will make Marchal, 40, feel alive.

Marchal's plan is to run 50 marathons in 50 states before he turns 50. He is using his time on paid leave to get a head start. He ran a marathon in Anchorage, Alaska, in August. He ran a marathon in Portland, Ore., on Oct. 7. He ran in Spokane, Wash., last Sunday. He spent the week driving through the West, on his way to Greenville.

Reached on his cell phone last Wednesday, he was emerging from the Badlands of South Dakota. He spoke of the spectacle of Yellowstone Park and tried to describe Mount Rushmore at sunrise.

"It's a visual assault on the ocular cavities," Marchal said. "This is the trip of a lifetime. I get to spend time with my family for two weeks before I have to head back to California. You know, I haven't been able to see them much over the years. It's like a celebration for me -- a celebration of four months and 14 days after 22 years in the service."
Jason Reineke said running for more than three hours passes quickly, and this year he hopes to make it pass even quicker.