Saturday, March 24, 2012

My Interview with Guinness World Record Holder, Tommy Neeson


Earlier this month, a team of 5 runners set out to break a Guinness World Record. Running a marathon in Virginia Beach, the team ran the entire marathon tied together, starting and finishing together. I asked Tommy Neeson, a friend of mine from Virginia Beach, to share his experience training for, completing the marathon, and setting a new Guinness World record. This isn't Tommy's first impressive feat, when it comes to running, Tommy does not hold back! He has literally run from Bangor Maine to Florida! I ran 14 miles with him in southern Maine on his journey to raise awareness for a charity. He broke a world record for 50k treadmill running to raise awareness and funds for the Ronald Mcdonald House. Tommy has also established himself as a half marathon and marathon pacer to help other runners achieve their goals. I will interview Tommy on his 50K treadmill world record and his journey from Maine to Florida in another blog posts down the road. Tommy is known to talk and tell jokes from the starting line to the finish line, so be prepared.




Tommy Neeson on far right

1. You were tied together "tethered" with four other guys running a marathon 26.2 miles. A few years ago you set a world record on a treadmill for 50k. This will be on another post later. How does it feel to be part of another record?

It's kind of surreal to be a record holder like that. It's cool to have a record no matter what it is, but one that is performance based as apposed to 'The most Mickey Mouse dolls' is ever better. Of course I don't own any Mickey Mouse dolls . . . Hello Kitty dolls on the other hand!!!

2. How did this all come about?

A good friend of mine, Steve Speirs, sent me a link to a newspaper story of the gang who set the record at the God's Country Marathon last year and the planning started after I read two sentences into the story.

3. Did you raise awareness for any charities ? And how would someone send money to the charities that is reading this blog? Is their a special meaning why you picked this cause?

We ran the marathon for Preston's March for Energy. They provide children who suffer from Mitochondrial Disease with an adaptive bicycle tailored to their needs and strengths. The bikes are incredibly expensive and cost over $2000 a piece, but the amount of joy and freedom they give kids is outstanding.

5. You were part of a team of 5 tied together. Did you have a goal in mind before the race?

We really wanted to run under 3:05 with hopes of breaking 3 hours, but the main thing was to not trip and of course to enjoy every step of it which we did. We were pretty confident we could break the record, but as legendary marathon runner, Bill Rogers, once said - the marathon can humble you. It would be great if someone else reads about this and gets a team together to break our record - just as long as they do it for one of their local charities.

6. You ran 3:06:04 beating the previous record of 3:26:15. What was the most difficult part of running together during the run? Did you guys train together? Or do any special training to get ready?

Running tethered may seem like it is difficult, but it really wasn't at all. We went for a practice run and within a 1/2 mile had it down pat.

7. I understand you had to find another runner with a few weeks before the race. I read one of the guys got injured. Were you nervous about a new guy going to the starting line with you guys?


We did lose Steve to injury a couple of weeks before the marathon. I was pretty bummed about that. Steve is such a great guy I wanted him to be part of this. I told him if he could go that we'd hold a spot for him. We had to have at least 5 people, but could have as many as we wanted. The only catch is you had to finish with how many you started with. Two days before the race Steve gave us the final word that he couldn't go, he just wasn't sure he could last the entire 26 miles without re-injuring himself. The good news is we were able to bring Jon Leiding on. Not only is Jon a capable runner in his own right, but his personality is perfect for this.

8. Marathons have trials, all different things can happen, a small blister can ruin a runners day, dehydration can slow one down, a runner can hit the wall" a phrase used for a runner who either went out to fast or wasn't trainned well." Did you guys have any trials out on the course? And if you did? What did you do to help each other out?

Around 18 or 19, Mark started to hurt a bit and we started to slow our pace from sub 7 minute miles to around 7:20. I held off pushing the effort until around mile 22 or so and then I just tried to give words of encouragement. I kept saying things like, "It won't hurt any less to slow up. The sooner we get done, the sooner we can drink some beer!" With a mile to go I really started cracking the whip. I went from trying to be encouraging to being a Drill Sargent. I was yelling at the guys, "You mean to tell me we are about to break a world record and we are going to limp in? Oh, I don't &^%$#@ think so!" I'm sure some of the spectators were thinking I was a complete jerk!

9. I have run the Shamrock marathon, the course is pretty much flat, there are a few small inclines, What part of the course would you say was the hardest part for the five of you to run? Was it the water stops? All five reaching for water must of been pretty amusing...

A few of the water stops were a challenge. We knew going in that on the first two in the link would be able to grab water. We had to be extra careful not to trip then. Overall, I'd say the day was perfect. Weather was ideal and we were lucky enough to have my girlfriend, Dolores, on her bike giving us water as various spots on the course. She was a tremendous help and I am certainly very lucky to have her in my life.

Last question..
You are an experience pacer for half marathons and marathons. Was this experience harder for you? Or is pacing marathon runners to meet their goals more difficult?

This experience was very similar to pacing gigs for me. Especially the last 5 miles or so. The difference though is so many people knew what we were doing and cheered us. That was fantastic. There were a few spots where we crossed paths with other runners. Seeing those people along the course pulling out their phones and cameras to take a picture of us was so cool.
HOME » NEWS

Team breaks a record in Virginia Beach marathon

Posted to: News Sports Virginia Beach

By Lee Tolliver The Virginian-Pilot ©

VIRGINIA BEACH

What's the worst thing about running a marathon tethered to four other runners?

Tommy Neeson's teammates were quick to respond.

"Running 26 miles with Tommy," they said in unison before the start of the 40th running of the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon early Sunday at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

"Yep ... having to listen to Tommy for three hours. This is gonna be painful."

Neeson and friends Joel Bell, Drew Midland, Mark Manny and Jon Leiding started the 26.2-mile run with a couple of goals in mind.

First, they were attempting to break the Guinness World Record for running a full marathon linked together.

They also were running to raise awareness for Preston's March for Energy, a group devoted to buying adapted bicycles for children suffering from mitochondrial disease, a condition that affects muscle development.

Preston Buenaga, 13, is the nephew of race director Amy Frostick. Preston completed the Anthem Half Marathon while being pushed in a racing wheelchair.

The Guinness record - which was three hours, 26 minutes and 15 seconds, set June 4, 2011, in Coudersport, Pa. - required at least five runners to be tethered together for the duration.

"We're not gonna pull this off if Tommy has to stop to go to the bathroom," Midland said.

With that thought burned in their minds, the group took off with the first and fastest group of runners, at first front to back with hopes of finding a place on the course where they could spread out and run side by side.

"It's going to take some communication on our part," Neeson said. "Much easier side by side, though.

"But the hardest part is being the guy next to me. For three hours that could be just horrible."

Leiding was that unlucky link in the chain, picked for the part because he was a late entry into the group after a friend who was to participate was injured several weeks ago.

A bit of a local running celebrity, Neeson has run from Maine to Florida to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House, was part of a relay team that ran from Woodstock to New York City, and once owned a record for running a marathon on a treadmill.

Neeson also helps organize a local version of the Doughnut Run - where participants run two miles to a Krispy Kreme, down a minimum of six doughnuts, and run back to the start.

"We stole the idea from others like it around the country," Neeson said. "But we've done it for four of the last five years and not one person has regurgitated.

"I just don't know what we're doing wrong."

His tethered group did nothing wrong Sunday, shattering the Guinness record by more than 20 minutes.

"This went awesome even with so little practice," Bell said. "We were hanging on our pace and settled in. We really had no problems."

When the group hit "the wall" - somewhere between the 18- and 22-mile marks, Bell said, increased chatter kept everybody motivated.

"This was my 10th marathon and I've always had to stop at some point in the others," Leiding said.

"See, being tied together was a good thing," Neeson chimed in.

"We didn't want it to turn into a drag," Manny said, laughing.

At that point during the celebration, something caught the team's attention while posing for pictures in a sea of well-wishers.

"Thank God," Leiding gasped as a volunteer wheeled two kegs of beer past the group.

"Is that ours?"

Lee Tolliver, 757-222-5844, lee.tolliver@pilotonline.com


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