I am doing a favor for my friend Chris who is the race director for the Icebreaker Marathon and Half Marathon to be held at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee. I am creating a spreadsheet that lists lap time at Pettit and converts it to mile pace and marathon/half marathon pace.
In most of the marathons I have run, there are mile markers along the course that lets you know how far you have gone and allows you to see your splits (if you click your watch) along the way. Well, at the Icebreaker, there are no mile markers. If there were, they would be all over and you would be passing them all the time having no real clue how far you really have gone. What about wearing a Garmin? No dice! You can't get a signal through the metal exterior of the building. So what is a guy to do who wants to keep a specific pace? Create a spreadsheet.
Here is what I did. Chris gave me the official certified distance for 1 lap. Officially a lap at Pettit is 442.434264 meters. We all actually run a meter or 2 further each lap, but since we don't run right on the inside line the whole way (there is also a speed skater mat there), the distance is slightly more. This makes a marathon at Pettit 95.3701 laps. I then created a spreadsheet and created laps times from 90 seconds to 240 seconds. Letting Excel do the math, I then showed what each lap pace would mean for a marathon or half marathon time. Also since a lot of us marathon runners like to know our mile pace, I converted the lap time to a mile pace (1 mile =1609.344 Meters).
I know, a little over analytical! Well, that is me and I like to know my pace. So for me, if I want to break 4 hours in a marathon at Pettis, I need to run just under 2:31 per lap. 2:31 per laps would equal a 4:00:01 marathon. Want to run a 3:30 marathon at Pettit? 2:12 per lap would give you a time of 3:29:49. Want to run 3:00 laps, that will give you a 4:46:07 marathon. You get the picture.
They will take the spreadsheet and print it out for anyone who wants the info and it will be my little way of helping those who want a good time, to help achieve it.
Numbers aside, you still have to run the entire distance. 26.21876 miles. Sorry, couldn't resist.
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2 comments:
That's good information. I would want it if I were running that race.
Oh, this is a post that makes my little accountant heart just so happy. Yes, I would want to know my pace and a spreadsheet would make it even more fun! I'm sure that it will be much appreciated by everyone. Good luck!
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