2026 USA Fit Virtual Marathon

The Background

The 2026 USA Fit Marathon was changed to virtual due to a freeze.  The weekend that worked for me to run was after the Galveston Marathon. I did not run a step between Galveston and USA Fit.  

My friends Jamie, Luke, and another friend joined me for the run from Northshore Park to run loops around the lake.

The Race 

We ran the first mile at an 11-minute pace, then 3 miles at a 10-minute pace.  Luke and the other fellow split off, leaving Jamie and me.

We kept an 11-minute pace up through mile 15, then ran a 12-minute pace for mile 16. Then we ran/waked to mile 20.

Luke was waiting to say hi at mile 20!

Jamie completed his 20-mile training run, so we all said goodbye, and I headed off to finish the marathon.  I mainly hiked the last miles with scattered bits of running. The hiking was at 14-minute pace, which I figured was good practice for Jackalope Jam.

I finished in 5:44.

Reflections

I ran the USA Fit Marathon with Jamie in 2023 and Luke in 2025. God blessed me to run it with both of them in 2026! Thanks guys for running with me!

Now I have Jackalope Jam 48 hour coming up, so I need to continue to work on my powerhiking.

2026 Galveston Marathon

The Background

After Bandera, I got busy, and my knees were slightly sore, so I only did scattered 2 or 3 miles runs.  I had planned to run USA Fit Marathon, but it was changed to virtual due to a freeze.  So I would run that after the Galveston Marathon.

I had the TCTELA conference up until Saturday, with the Galveston Marathon on Sunday.  The morning of the race, I felt a bit tired from going nonstop at work. 

The Race

It was cold at the start. There was a lady with a chihuahua in line for packet pickup, and the dog shivered.

I ran the first 4 miles at around 1 10:15 pace. Miles 5-6 were at 10:40 pace.  I must have felt good, because I sped back up again: mile 5 was 10:15 pace, then I did a couple of 10:20 pace miles. Miles 10 through 12 were at 10:30 pace.  

Somewhere along the way, a young fellow pulled up next to me and said, "You've got a good pace. Can I run with you for a while?" I said sure, and learned he was running his first marathon.  He pulled away from me after a few minutes.

I got tired, and slowed to 10:58 pace for mile 13.

On the second loop, I ran 11-minute miles all the way through mile 21.  I was still feeling decent, but my mind was wrong, so I hiked a couple of miles at a 14-minute pace.

After I passed the finish and headed out to Pleasure Pier, I ran again.  I took a short walk break after the final turnaround, then ran again.  

As I approached mile 25, I saw the same young fellow.  He started walking right after he passed the mile marker.  I pulled up to him and said hi, and he started running again.  Looking at my watch, I knew if we walked then last mile we would be over 5 hours.  I said, "Running gets it in under 5 hours," and we ran, finishing in 4:57.

Reflections

The story of the young fellow and I running to the finish made this marathon memorable.

I could have been mentally stronger not to walk a couple of miles. Still, I pushed and made it in under 5 hours.