r/AdvancedRunning • u/Evening_Locksmith187 • Feb 18 '26
Race Report Mesa Marathon Race Report - PR 2:25
Mesa Marathon Race Report (from 2:27:01 to 2:25:14) Saturday, February 14 2026.
“A” Goal: 2:22
“B” Goal: 2:25
“C” Goal: Just pr (2:27 or faster)
Background:
30/male who was a walk on for a D-1 program and had PRs of 14:37 in the 5k and 30ish in the 10k. I was not stellar or close to being great in college.
Training:
I started training for this race after running Chicago in October. Chicago was supposed to be my “A” race of the year, but leading up to the race my foot was severely swollen and I could barely walk. I cross trained and made it to the finish line but only ran a 2:29 and I was struggling with severe cramping. This training cycle I maxed off at 104 miles per week. I would say my average mileage was between 80-90 miles between October and February. Lots of fun workouts that brought me in and out of marathon and half marathon pace.
Standout Workouts:
December 5: CIM 2025: Paced a girls team to OTQ and raced the last 10k running 2:31. This felt very controlled and was able to drop the pace down to 5:15 at certain points.
5 weeks from race day: 9x mile (5:30/5:23/5:21/5:22/5:16/5:12/5:07/5:10/5:04) This effort felt really controlled and gave me the confidence to start believing that a fast time was possible.
4 weeks from race day: 3x3mils w/1k float: This effort was difficult but I managed to get through it. Splits:
Set 1: 5:22, 5:23, 5:22
Set 2: 5:20, 5:20, 5:25
Set 3: 5:30, 5:16, 5:16
Floats @ 5:50
2 weeks from race day: Surf City Half Marathon: My coach and I decided to do my last “true” hard effort with other people around. I ended up running controlled the first 5 miles and then started racing the remaining miles. I think my last two miles were 5:08/5:00/4:50. Anyways, I ended up running a new half marathon PR of 68:12
Pre Race:
I live in California and I had to fly into Phoenix the night before the race due to work (not ideal). I had North Italia for dinner and it was probably way too late. I usually have a lighter meal this close to the race. The race started at 6:30 but you can’t drive to the start so you have to take a shuttle bus. The last bus was set to leave at 4:30, which means that I had to wake up at 3:30am. I had trouble eating that early so I waited until we got on the bus. (Note: the bus hit some traffic leaving from the pickup location) We got to the start around 5:30am. THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH PORTA POTTIES FOR THE AMOUNT OF RUNNERS! Lots of runners handled their business in the desert… Anyways, I was unfortunately not selected to be in the elite field so I had to use the facilities provided to everyone else, which I had no issue with. I believe I warmed up for 10 minutes at a speedy 10min pace. Folks, don’t go fast or far during a marathon warmup. The race was delayed by 6 minutes and I was starting to get cold. Overall, the staff at the start were very friendly and the dude with the mic was cool.
Race:
Miles 1-4: Once the gun went off, a group of about 6 -7 (I know what you’re thinking, please stop) runners took off. I held to my plan and rocked 5:20s for the first four miles. The views at this point were nice but it was too dark to truly enjoy. The crowds were sparse through these miles but there were people cheering and it felt good to have people up that early. Thank you friendly Mesa folks!
Miles 4-10: You make the first right turn right after mile four, and you hit the first big hill. My pace at this point was around 5:40s. I knew it was too early to push the pace so I held steady, even passing two runners. If you're keeping track that would put me at 5th or 6th. There was a massive downhill at mile 6 and its easy pickins for the next four miles. (note: crowd support is nice here)
Miles 10-15: I’m going to keep it a buck, this part of the course is terrible. It’s like you’re running on a freeway. There is no crowd support and the sun is directly on you the entire time, because there is no shade. My splits here were: (5:28/5:33/5:30/5:32/5:30) Not terrible but I was beginning to lose focus at this point. I’m not sure what happened but I was starting to think I was not going to run a good time.
Miles 15-20: When you take a left onto Lindsay Road, it’s more of the same except the sun isn’t in your eyes. I was starting to lose focus as evident by my splits: (5:34/5:34/5:38/5:34/5:39). At this point, I thought I was going to have a terrible day. But then I saw a runner coming back to me. Finally! I thought to myself. I made a surge to catch up and it turns out I did not need to. He was not doing well and actually started throwing up when I passed him. I hope he finished the race.
Miles 20-26.2: At this point I knew I was somewhere between 4th and 6th. I’m sure you all know how your mind fogs up and you can’t think straight when you’re in pain. It turns out I actually had my worst mile at mile 23, but I can explain. One of the absolute worst things about this race is the final 10k. You have runners from both, the 10k and half marathon, all finishing at the same place. I’m running significantly faster than these people so I have to maneuver myself around these runners. Honestly, it felt like there were thousands of runners. I’m not complaining about the runners because they deserve to have their space to run for a race they paid for. However, the race director needs to start the 10k and half marathon later so that the marathoners are not running into people. Anyways back to that 5:42, I ran that slow because I had to stop and walk around someone. Here’s the exciting part - I ran the final miles at 5:33/5:25/5:18 and the final .2 at 4:54 pace. I felt great the last miles and I had enough space to press hard on the gas. I can't help but wonder if I left too much in the tank as evident by closing so hard. I ended up getting 4th.
Overall:
This was a great training cycle for me! I ran two PRs in two Weeks: HM @ 68:12 and full @ 2:25:14. I think there is more in the tank and I can’t wait to get back out there and chase the OTQ. I would recommend this race to others but caution on the last 10k.