2020 Dojo of Pain Invitational Marathon

An hour before dawn on Saturday, December 5, a small group of hardcore runners and volunteers gathered at Hains Point for the Dojo of Pain Invitational Marathon. The nor'easter that had dumped over an inch of rain on DC overnight had apparently exhausted itself, but it left one big puddle and howling 20 mile-per-hour winds, with gusts of over 40 miles per hour. 

The runners took off at 6:30 am, and as they rounded Hains Point and turned north, they experienced what some described as a 30-second-per-mile headwind. Some runners formed tight packs to fight the wind. Some wisely ran by effort and allowed their pace to slacken. Others said, "damn the lactic acid, full speed ahead." 

The wind took a brutal toll as the race proceeded. A number of runners DNF'ed as their paces cratered. Others decided to fight on, even as they started to record mile splits a minute or more over their goal pace. Yet a handful of superhuman runners still managed to run PRs or times within a few short minutes of their goals. 

After some dramatic back-and-forth, Austin O'Brien pulled out the win in a stellar 2:21:24, with Tyler Lyon and Blake Whalen one and two minutes back, respectively. Mike Lederhouse ran a monster negative split (after kindly pulling yours truly through the first half - see pain face below) to finish 4th in 2:26:44. 

Our own Nina Zarina took the win in a PR of 2:37:52. In better conditions, she'll be looking at low 2:30s. Ildiko Gaal, also soloed a very impressive 2:46:45 for second. 

Bobby Molson may have had the performance of the day, running 2:46:05--a monster PR for a guy who not that long ago aspired to break 3. And speaking of breaking 3, Kristen Serafin came agonizingly close in 3:00:28. 

In the half marathon, a race that was advertised only to Dojo members and our friends, Dickson Mercer of GRC and our own Jenny Paul took the wins in 1:14:37 and 1:25:11, respectively. 

Of course the biggest stars of the race were our team of volunteers who set up the course (hauling traffic cones with their Italian sports cars), handed out personal fluids to each runner, and manually timed both a full and half marathon, using three separate stopwatches in accordance with USATF rules. Also, a huge thanks to Bob Thurston, who measured our first course and then measured a new course on 24-hours notice when the National Park Service threw us a curveball. 

There has already been talk of a second edition of this race, or perhaps a half in the spring. The RD will entertain such suggestions only after he's done eating pizza and Theragunning his hamsting, which should take at least a week. 

Dojo of Pain Invitational Marathon Official Results

1. Austin O’Brien - 2:21:24

2. Tyler Lyon - 2:22:25

3. Blake Whalen - 2:23:48

4. Mike Lederhouse - 2:26:44

5. Tyson Wieland - 2:27:08

6. Stephen Paddock - 2:35:36

7. Peter Falcon - 2:36:35

8. Nina Zarina - 2:37:52 (1F)

9. Lance Dockery - 2:44:28

10. Bobby Molson - 2:46:05

11. Adam Watkins - 2:46:30

12. Ildiko Gaal - 2:46:45 (2F)

13. Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe - 2:53:29

14. Tim Bulat - 2:54:25

15. Nathan Bult - 2:55:01

16. Ed Wilson - 2:57:13

17. Steve Monnier - 2:57:13

18. Jon Ober - 2:59:46

19. Kristen Serafin - 3:00:28 (3F)

20. Michael Desmond - 3:11:56

Half Marathon Results

1. Dickson Mercer - 1:14:37

2. Sam Pence - 1:18:28

3. Taylor Williamson - 1:23:03

4. Andrew Carpenter - 1:23:08

5. Jenny Paul - 1:25:11 (1F)

6. Rob Olney - 1:27:18

7. Robin Watkins - 1:27:48 (2F)

8. Shannon Kinney - 1:28:04 (3F)

9. Amanda Hicks - 1:32:28 (F)*

10. Matthew Mangan - 1:39:27

11. Michelle Behrens - 1:40:09 (4F)

12. Camille Doom - 1:40:09 (5F)

13. Donald Junta - 1:46:43

*Unofficial

Course Certificate Number: DC20007RT

https://www.certifiedroadraces.com/certificate/?type=m&id=710

Photos (mostly by Charlie Ban, but some by our volunteers) available here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zujNVjsC63dJAMD6A