Report by: Eric Barron
Flying under the radar screen of local marathons, the 2001 Pacific Shoreline Marathon had a mere 389 runners finish the distance. However, for those that showed up, race conditions appeared favorable on the flat course with no precipitation and comfortably cool temperatures. Of course, the body must be willing, too, and that would prove the undoing for some.
Proving that St. George was no fluke, Tyrone Black can now safely call himself a sub-three-hour marathoner, as he cruised to a 2:57:47. Although he claimed to be at the start line to support other TCLA'ers, anyone that knows Tyrone knows that he was not about to line up at a race and not race. His effort on little training landed him sixth place overall and first in his age division.
Another fall marathon veteran, Clarence Smith, also turned in a strong performance with a p.r. of 3:15:48. Determined not to burn out, Clarence started conservatively and maintained that pace for much of the race. He did not end up with the 3:10 that he was hoping for, but he felt good throughout the race, and the experience should give him confidence for future efforts.
Elsewhere on the course, Tim Petersen and Brian Panosian ran with Clarence for 16 miles, and Tim ran bravely through 21. There, the course turns and the last five miles brought an ocean headwind. At 23, Tim's stomach decided to rid itself of all food, gel and liquid (perhaps it thought that if he were lighter he would run faster). He managed the last three miles of the race in about 45 minutes, which, according to Tim, seemed eternal when going in a straight line with the end in the distance. Like Tim, Brian ran his last marathon only two months ago, and likely was not recovered. Indeed, Brian knew he was in for a long day around 8 miles, started slipping around 16, and was cursing the marathon gods by 21 (they took their revenge over the next five miles). Finally, Paul Anderson ran his usual steady pace and finished shortly behind Tim.
In the half marathon, Andreas Kemkes almost dipped under 90 minutes. New TCLA'er, Sam Spencer, who had torn up the Niketown 5-mile course three days earlier, was a couple of minutes behind Andreas.