05/21/2006
Most people think that runners start to slow down when you hit 40, they even give you the special category of "masters" runners, but someone forgot to tell Bryan Crist, Megan Burns, and Christine Ganze that the days of personal bests are supposed to be in the past once you hit that benchmark in life.
Although they had never met before this past weekend, Bryan and Megan had been in touch through the member's forum, and realized that with similar personal bests and a similar level of fitness, it made sense for them to work together to go for a sub 2:50 time. Despite conditions that included strong winds off lake Erie, the two worked together throughout the race taking turns pushing the pace as they hovered at 2:49 pace for much of the way. The winds were at their strongest from miles 20-24, when the race gets toughest, and their splits slowed slightly. Even though they just missed their time goal, Bryan's 2:50:14 and Megan's 2:50:21 were personal bests by two minutes and one minute respectively. At 43 and 42 respectively, it was a great run for the pair. And Megan's performance was highlighted by winning the women's race.
In analyzing her race, Megan said "without that [the wind], Bryan and I would have been under 2:50. Ultimately, I was happy to have run a PR in such windy conditions, thrilled to have won, and thankful for Bryan and all his help throughout the race."
Starting 30 minutes earlier up in Maine, Cristine Ganz had set out with similar goals: a personal best and a victory at the Sugarloaf Marathon. While she did not have to battle the front that was moving through Chicago, Christine was still bouncing back from a battle with bronchitis that poped up just over a week before the race. Running in third for much of the race, Christine passed the second place female late in the race and was quickly gaining ground on the winner when she crossed the finish line in 2:57:26, a two minute personal best. At 45 years young, Christine seems to run a PR in almost every marathon these days.