That’s why they call it a marathon
The best-laid plans of marathon runners can, and do, go awry.
Witness the five veteran Los Angeles Marathon runners profiled two weeks ago: Lou Briones, Alice Perlowski, Pete Banuelos, Radell Hutchen and Dawn Vonderheide. All had run the race before, and were ready to complete 26.2 miles no matter what the weather.
The climate turned out to be the least of their worries.
LOU BRIONES
Age: 60
City: Westchester
Occupation: Retired; former Boeing test lab supervisor
Number of L.A. Marathons run: 23 (Briones is a Legacy Runner, having run every race in this L.A. Marathon series)
This year’s marathon: Tuesday before the race I ran and swam and I started to feel some pain in my left calf. Wednesday I ran four miles at my planned race pace, and I really felt it. I thought it would be a temporary thing, but it was very sore. I got a massage and on Friday I went to a physical therapist and by Sunday morning it was starting to feel a little better. I was so worried about my leg, I didn’t know what to expect.
After the halfway point I started to develop a searing, intense pain in the left side of my left calf. I moved to the right side of the road, where it curves down -- I thought that maybe my left leg wouldn’t have to extend as much. After about a mile the pain diminished. A couple of miles later, the right side of my left calf starting hurting. I changed my position again, and that seemed to relax it. So I was still able to maintain close to an eight-minute pace. Then about mile 17 my quads started to feel like concrete. I walked through the water station and about mile 18 I started running again, but my pace had slowed down.
When I saw the mile 26 banner, I was able to find some energy and jammed it to the finish. Afterward I could barely walk. I went to the massage tents and then sat in the grass on Bunker Hill. I placed third in my age class. It really helps when you have a victory like that to help ease the pain of the marathon.
Time: 3:38
Upcoming races: Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, June 8; Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene Triathlon, June 22; Vineman Ironman 70.3, July 20.
Will you do the L.A. Marathon next year? Absolutely.
ALICE PERLOWSKI
Age: 31
City: Los Angeles
Occupation: Cardiology fellow at UCLA
Number of L.A. Marathons run: 4
This year’s marathon: This may go down in the books as the toughest race. I went skiing the weekend before the marathon, and it probably wasn’t a good idea. I tweaked my back a bit -- it was just a muscle strain. I got a massage before the race but I think that made it worse. When I started running, I thought it would get better, but it got worse and worse. By mile six, I wasn’t sure I was going to finish. I got through it just by determination. After I crossed the finish line, I got a massage from this nice lady, and I iced my back. The people doing the massages were incredible -- just very caring and nice. The next day I did a full day of cases, but I felt OK. I did have to use the elevators.
Time: 3:32.
Upcoming race: Boston Marathon, April 21.
Will you do the L.A. Marathon again? Absolutely. I’ll always do L.A.
PETE BANUELOS
Age: 52
City: West Covina
Occupation: Prop maker
Number of L.A. Marathons: 6
This year’s marathon: A few days before the race I started getting a sore throat. I went to the doctor who told me I had a sinus infection. He gave me some medicine and told me I should be fine by race day. But Saturday night when we went to carbo-load I didn’t eat much -- things weren’t tasting that good. Before the race I was still hurting and that’s when I started to think that I might have a bit of a hard time. During the race I wasn’t able to drink that much water. But the first 14 miles were really good, and then about mile 15 or 16 I started feeling like I didn’t have any energy anymore. It hurt to swallow so I was pouring water over me and gargling with it, sipping it a little bit.
Toward the end of the race I got some help from a fellow runner I knew -- she noticed me and she put a little pressure on my back and pushed me forward. And on the last mile a friend of hers came and ran along with me and saw me to the finish line. I was very happy to finish. I really gave it my all.
Time: 4:28
Upcoming races: Eugene Marathon, May 4; San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon, June 1.
Will you do the L.A. Marathon next year? Yes.
RADELL HUTCHEN
Age: 45
City: Los Angeles
Occupation: Architect
Number of L.A. Marathons run: 5
This year’s marathon: The woman I was running with is a really talented runner. But she had that flu that was going around. She started getting fatigued and said, “I can’t do this,” and I had to keep telling her that she could. We came into mile 25 and that’s when my friend really started struggling. She was crying, and I put my arm around her, and people in the crowd saw her and started giving her a hand, saying, “You’re almost there, we know you can do it.” She was pushing pretty hard and her feet were pretty torn up, but she hung in there. She wanted to finish.
I wanted to run the whole race in reasonable comfort because I’m running the Boston Marathon next month. My pace was comfortable -- it was a little slow, but I’m just a tad sore. Idealistically, 3:45 would have been perfect. I went across the finish line, took my glasses off and started smiling.
Time: 4:06
Upcoming race: Boston Marathon, April 21.
Will you do the L.A. Marathon again next year? Oh, of course.
DAWN VONDERHEIDE
Age: 52
Occupation: Healthcare administrator
City: Fullerton
Number of L.A. Marathons: 12
This year’s marathon: (Vonderheide’s daughter 1st Lt. Jessica Lopez, 25, is an Air Force pilot stationed in Southwest Asia. Also a marathoner, she planned on running 26.2 miles simultaneously with the L.A. Marathon on her base). About three or four minutes before the race, someone from NBC grabbed me and handed me an earpiece and all of a sudden Jessica was talking to me. I had no idea they were going to do this. It was thrilling to hear her.
I kept on my game plan, and I used gravity on the downhill, but didn’t go too fast. My group eventually caught up with me, and we got to the halfway point, and things were good, but it was getting hotter. Then we got to the 6th Street bridge, and right in front of me, a 17-year-old runner totally cramped up and collapsed in front of me. I’m a registered nurse, and I was carrying salt and potassium, so I gave him some electrolytes and massaged his cramp. I walked with him to the aid station, and then walked with him a little while. Then he wanted to run. So I kind of got trashed on my groove, but that’s OK. You need to take care of other runners.
Afterward I had a nice massage and bought a Coke and a hot dog. Then I talked to the rest of the people who came in and heard all their stories.
Time: 4:35
Upcoming races: Boston Marathon, April 21; San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon, June 1.
Will you run the L.A. Marathon next year? Oh, yeah. It’s my home marathon.