50th Sub-3-hour Marathon State: Redemption in New Mexico

Predicting sub-3-hour state number 5-0! 

Here I am at El Patio in Albuquerque, again, and entirely by coincidence... Michael and I ate here after a failed, and quite miserable, attempt to run the 2018 Sandia Crest Marathon in under 3 hours... Melissa directed us here after landing in town. 

That inaugural 2018 event was hot, sunny, and awfully uphill for an aggressive downhill marathon. This year's event was two weeks later in hope of avoiding some of that desert heat; while about 10 degrees cooler, it was still sunny and dry, with a forecast of 82 degrees. 

My Strava notes: '16 Revel Rockies vs. '18 Sandia Crest

From El Patio, we drove to Santa Fe, the oldest US capital city. We settled into our room at the adorably southwestern Pueblo Bonito Bed & Breakfast Inn, then enjoyed a drink from the Bell Tower Bar as the clouds broke, revealing an inspiring sunset behind the Jemez Mountains. We took advantage of the cool, desert evening with a stroll around Santa Fe Plaza, discovering the historical sites that make this city unique. 

Cute Bed & Breakfast, right?

Buying jewelry from the Pueblo craftspeople that sell on the Santa Fe Plaza

The sunset view from Bell Tower Bar on the rooftop of La Fonda Hotel

Friday morning, with 24 hours to go, Bill and I hit the Acequia Trail for a shakeout run. We're feeling a bit of the 7,200ft of elevation here in Santa Fe. I've found the sweet spot is to run your race at elevation within 48 hours of landing. The beauty of these downhill marathons is that you don't really feel the difficulty of running at elevation... until the uphills. 

Miracle stairs of Loretto Chapel - learn about them HERE

On the drive back to Albuquerque, we avoided highways, routing us along the Turquoise Trail, a Scenic Byway. The quirky town of Madrid - a coal town, turned ghost town, later revived by hippies - and desert scenery into the mountains make this the preferred road to traverse. From there, we drove the Sandia Crest Scenic Byway to the start line of tomorrow's marathon.

Madrid photo park

Bill likes baseball, really

We used to be cool

We drove the course home, reliving every painful memory of where things went wrong 3 years ago: the 1-mile climbs at mile 5 (elevation 8,600ft) and mile 12 (elevation 6,900ft), the goal time slip away at mile 16, walks at miles 18, 20... and 21 through 26 where Michael met me, in an equal amount of pain, to unceremoniously cross the finish line together in 3:14:55, my worst marathon in 10 years.

Vegos for dinner, though delicious, would prove troublesome later. I overindulged in burritos, eating Melissa's other half in bed while watching murder mystery shows, in addition to my burrito. It felt so right at the time. 

Bill and Melissa were staying at a separate hotel for the evening, either to avoid my burritos or my 3:30am alarm. I was given a VIP pass that included a separate coach bus, with a toilet, that would shuttle me from my hotel to the start line. I'm going out on top!

As seen from my bus to the start - IT'S A SIGN!

I know this course well now. Aside from that mile of climb after mile 4, it's stupidly fast and quad-busting through mile 11. At that point, Melissa and Bill were waiting to leapfrog me in the car for the remainder of the race, tossing me BodyArmor sports drink - a last minute event switch from Powerade due to supply shortages (everything new on race day!) - in between the 2-mile gaps of the race aid stations. I knew from 2018 that I would feel dehydrated without it. Bill ran up the hills sprinkled throughout the course and the last 3 miles with me. 

Bill assisting me up the mile 12 climb on another lonely course

The 6:22 pace per mile through mile 16 was anticipated. From there, I could slow to a 7:30 pace per mile to bring this in at 2:58:30. That was a comfortable plan that accounted for the long climbs and hot sun of the second half. It did NOT, however, account for that extra half a burrito that sent me to the port-a-potty at mile 22, my only bathroom stop during a marathon in 75 marathons! 2 minutes lost on a number 2 at mile 22... Shit. 

This was going to be a close fight. I didn't know my overall average pace or distance since I mistakenly stopped my watch around mile 18. Then my headphones stopped working. Making matters worse, the mile markers were way off. 

I fought hard but was making plans to return. Bill was doing everything to keep me in it and as a result, I stopped taking walk breaks. Approaching the finisher chute, I could hear Melissa screaming her head off. I pushed as hard as I could, not knowing if I would make it; the clock was obscured by the glare of the sun. 

"That was Mike Brunette from Libertyville, IL who just completed a marathon in under 3 hours in all 50 states, let's hear it for Mike!" Did the announcer just say that? Was he sure? Melissa asked him if the clock was accurate when I heard Bill shout, "48(seconds)!!!" I jumped with elation on battered legs and scurried to find them for some big-ass hugs. 

3rd place overall

This goal began in Boston in 2009 with a 2:59:06 and finished here with a 2:59:12, 3rd place. Consistent, right? However, I can assure you it has been a wild ride with some amazing ups and downs in these 11 years: a 2:44:30 PR and that 3:14:55 low point, injuries, missed race starts, the COVID-19 year, tears of joy, and fears of this being unattainable. 

A Bear On The Run is now a bear done! 

I'm delightfully pleased to be finished with this 50 sub-3-hour marathons goal, which is fitting because I'm in the Land of Enchantment. But, what to do next?

Enjoy the moment. Celebrate. Return to Boston to bookend this goal with a victory lap at the fall 2021 race. Then, throw this stupid GPS watch into a lake!

My awesome friends staged a surprise party the night I returned home

46/50 - Sandia Crest Marathon

Ooh look, a camera! Me during the race, sometime before things fell apart.

This wouldn't be fun if it were easy, right? That's what I keep telling myself. I've been after this goal of running a sub-3-hour marathon in every state since my first in 2009 at the Boston Marathon (1st blog entry linked). This recent 3:14:55 at the Sandia Crest Marathon in New Mexico didn't meet the mark. In fact, it was my worst since that Boston race. But setbacks are inevitable. Tenacity is what will get me to another start line, and 9 of those start lines remain.

In 2018, I've run my best and worst marathons. Shortly after running a personal best at the Lower Potomac River Marathon in Maryland in March, I got injured and lost my mojo. With continued training and racing since then, I was mentally and physically exhausted going into this race. On the plus side: Michael was with me for another state, our 7th together. He's a great training and travel partner!

I was excited for this trip because I had never been to New Mexico. We flew into Albuquerque on Friday afternoon for the Saturday race. Modeled after the successful Revel Race Series downhill marathons, Merit Race Series created the first downhill option in New Mexico and this was its inaugural year. It's difficult to run a sub-3-hour marathon in this state if you live at sea level and don't like heat - factors I tend to ignore... until they affect me.

We landed and I directed Michael to the closest brewery for lunch - surprising, right? Green Jeans Farmery is a collective of eateries, brewery, and shops constructed entirely of shipping containers. We grabbed pizza then a beer flight from Santa Fe Brewing Co., New Mexico's oldest brewery. Nativo Lodge, a Native American-styled hotel featuring a series of rooms displaying murals by Native American artists, made our stay in Albuquerque unique and authentic.

See, pre-race beers make you happy

After packet pickup, we rode the Sandia Peak Tramway - a 2.7-mile ride up the mountain yielding breathtaking views of Albuquerque and the mountainside's flora and fauna. You know what the state animal of New Mexico is? The black bear! Though we didn't spot one, the mountain is home to many. Once on top of the 10,378ft Sandia Crest Peak, we hiked for a couple miles aiming for the Kiwanis Cabin (a stone cabin overlooking the Rio Grande Valley built in 1930 by the Civilian Conservation Corps), but took a wrong turn, and to our surprise ended up at the start line of the next day's marathon.

The Tramway down at sunset is spectacular

That 3:15am alarm came quickly. We were on a 1-hour bus ride to the top of the mountain at 4:45am. We've learned to be early after my bus never made it to the start of the 2015 Revel Rockies Marathon, and our bus to the start of 2016 St. George Marathon was late, delaying the start time.

There were about 250 runners at the start of the marathon. Compared to the Revel Rockies Marathon, the descent was aggressively faster, hotter, and with more uphill stretches. After mile 4, there was a mile-long uphill. It was too early in the race for me to have doubts, but they were creeping around in the back of my head nonetheless. The next uphill, also about a mile long, came at mile 12. I still wasn't exactly feeling it, but I told myself to get to mile 18 and reassess before the last long uphill at mile 20. When I got to mile 18, I walked.

I just wasn't having fun. The sun was hot and I felt so out of shape. I walked and ran my way to the finish and I wasn't alone - it was oddly reassuring to see folks in this pace range walking at this point. With less than a mile to go, I heard Michael approach and I started running again so we could cross the finish line together, and we did. I've been hoping for that experience at one of these races!

FINALLY, a finish pic together! 

In the finish chute we found donuts and chocolate milk, Chris Brown (a friend from the Libertyville Running Club who now lives in San Diego), and an ice bath. It's a party now!

Michael doesn't drink but I kept sneaking in brewery visits, this time, for lunch at Nexus Brewery with Chris and his wife, Moira. It was good catching up and getting to know Moira. We took a private van tour of Albuquerque which helped us make sense of this seemingly sprawling metropolis. There is something unique about New Mexico: the art, architecture, turquoise jewelry, culture, atomic bomb history (inspired by a discussion at Bosque Brewing Co., I'm now reading The Making of the Atomic Bomb and it's dense AF!).

I promised Michael a post-race milkshake and 66 Diner didn't disappoint

Albuquerque is the ONLY place where Route 66 intersects itself. Strange, right?

If you didn't know already, Albuquerque is where Breaking Bad was filmed and when you're here, you will be reminded of it constantly - it seems to be one of their top tourist attractions. The Candy Lady candy shop in Old Town made the crystal meth prop for the show and you can buy it - it's rock candy.

Meth or candy? 

Look familiar? It's Jesse Pinkman's home from Breaking Bad

Albuquerque is having a renaissance. It's becoming hip and trendy with new restaurants, breweries, and construction everywhere. This will be the next Portland or Austin or at least, it'll try to be.

On Sunday, we had enough time for breakfast at Frontier (an old Albuquerque staple), a hike through Petroglyphs National Monument (fake, totally fake!), and Rude Boy Cookies, which, for a ska-themed cookie bar, really needed to have a black and white cookie.

The first text The Wife sent to me after she saw the race results was "I can't wait to bring the whole family back to New Mexico!" Not hitting my goal and having to go back is made a little bit easier with a bit of light-heartedness and the knowledge that I'll be coming back to a true gem of a state. See you again soon, New Mexico!