Da Boss' Feets Was Flyin

Craig Butler sent me the following account of his recent marathon, the 2nd in three weeks.  So, here it is, in his own words:

Mark--I like to see my name in print and reinforce my endurance prowess over my peers.  Please post this on your blog and don't change a word unless it serves to improve the perception of my performance!

After running the hilly Penna. Potter County marathon three weeks ago with an
nexpected time of 3:23 (2 minutes shy of a boston qualifying time (BQ)), I
ulled over the idea of finding another marathon to quickly see if I could run a
Q versus waiting to run one in the fall.  I found the Charlevoix marathon in
ichigan - A short trip up-lake from Traverse City.  With only three weeks of
ecovery and training in between I was hopeful but unsure about having enough
ime to recover and train, but signed up.
Tammi, Hanna and I drove up on Thursday nite and Friday to give it a shot.    It

s a relatively small marathon with about 1000 people running the marathon,
alf, and 10K.  About 250 people ran the marathon.  It is a real nice course run
n bike trails along Lake Michigan.
Saturday at 5AM, it was pouring rain when I woke up.  Thankfully, it stopped
round 6:30.  Temps were around 62 - 70 and humid.  Not too bad.
We started at 7 and I set a pace of 7:30.  This would give me a minute or two to

se when I hit the proverbial wall around mile 22 or so and pace tends to slow
nd make the 3:20 cutoff for my BQ age group. 
I was on or ahead of my pace time and felt OK - not great, but OK - through the
irst 10 miles.  There was one hill at 10 that was unexpected but not a huge
ssue.  At the half, I clocked a 1:37.  About 3 minutes ahead of schedule but I
as wary of getting too cocky because I knew there was a hill at mile 25 and
elt the first, and therefore the last three miles on this out/back course were
own/uphill.  I worked on managing my pace and drinking fluids through mile 22. 
ere I finally started to let myself start think I would make the 3:20 time as I
ad kept my pace and was feeling OK.  I passed several runners in the last three
iles that I let go in the beginning and hit the hill at 25 without losing to
uch time.  I crossed the finish line with a 3:16 (7:24 pace).  I made it.  I am
retty happy.  It has taken me 8 years to run a time like this and considering
y first marathon I ran a 5:04, I feel pretty good.  Perhaps with some more
raining I could do 3:10????   hmmmm fun to dream, but I need a break.
What's next....?   I have a few trail runs planned for later this year and
ossibly a 50 miler in October.  I plan to get on my bike more and ride with
riends and family.  I'm itching to climb some hills.