GLIRC’s Icebreaker Marathon

Race Report by OMR Athlete Thaddeus Nelson

One Monday at the end of January, I told my coach, Brian Frain that I wanted to run GLIRC’s Icebreaker Marathon the following Sunday. We had spoken about the race, but between Covid considerations and a nagging foot pain, I was non-committal. He reminded me to listen to my body. Until that Monday, my longest run since October had only been 16 miles, but a great 16 miles - comfortable, fast, fun. So, I registered for the race.

That Sunday, I got to Eisenhower Park in East Meadow New York with about 15 minutes to spare. Normally I like to be early, but the unseasonably warm weather of previous weeks had been replaced by a windy 20 degrees/feels like 9. I rushed to the bathroom, where I could feel my fingers to clip on by bib. When I reached the start line, no one would move up to the front, and I found myself at the front of the line. In retrospect, it was good to start building some warmth as quickly as possible. 

The Icebreaker Marathon consists of eight irregular loops through the park. It’s almost completely flat, except for a short hill to loop around a pond and then run back up. Although some runners hate looped courses, I love the chance to lose focus and just cruise through the laps.

After 16 miles, my foot started to ache. Months of low miles due to a foot pain, meant I wasn’t as prepared for a marathon as I should have been. I watched my laps start to slow, but I knew I could still finish. When I passed the aid tent for the last time, I started to run as hard as I could. I thought back to all those times I had seen the hated words “and strides” on my training schedule, and grumbled to myself about how they were actually paying off. The finish clock showed I had broken my PR by almost 10 minutes, but my real accomplishment was getting to the finish line after several months of difficulty with foot pain.