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ScribeBy: David Quick
Originally Published on: 12/10/02
Schlau seeking state record at Kiawah Marathon Saturday
After a six-year hiatus from marathon running, Charleston's most accomplished runner, Bob Schlau, will return to his No. 1 racing event at the 25th annual Kiawah Island Marathon Saturday.
Schlau is no stranger to marathons, having competed in more than 70.
He's in the history books for Kiawah, having won the original version of the marathon - when it was the Island Marathon on the Isle of Palms - in 1978, 1979 and 1980. He came in second at the Island Marathon the next three years before focusing on more prestigious races. His marathon accomplishments include competing in the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials in 1984 and 1988, as well as winning the Los Angeles Marathon in 1988 and The Charlotte Observer Marathon in 1990.
He wouldn't run the Kiawah Marathon until 1996 when, at the age of 49, he came in second with a time of two hours and 35 minutes. He was disappointed by the performance.
At that point, Schlau decided to retire from marathons because it was his third slowest marathon time coming at a time that he thought he was in relatively good shape. He was still running 10Ks in about 32 minutes and 5Ks in about 16 minutes.
"I didn't see a point in putting myself through it anymore," said Schlau, of marathon training.
NEW AGE GROUP, OUTLOOK
Now, at 55, he's reconsidered running marathons.
Part of it has to do with setting new state age group records for males age 55-59. Part of it has to do with trying to finding a spark to rekindle his running career.
Schlau, a financial consultant for Merrill Lynch, is poised to own some more state records. In October, he set the state age group record with a time of 17:21 at the Race for the Cure. In November, he set the state record for 10 miles at the Lowcountry Road Race with a time of 1:00:11.
The state age group record for the marathon is 3:02:34, set by Gerry Carner of Clemson at Kiawah in 2000.
"I'd be real disappointed if I don't run faster than that," said Schlau, whose slowest marathon to date is 2:49. "I'll be satisfied if I break three hours, happy to break 2:50. and thrilled to break 2:40. That's the way I'm looking at this."
"There's a good chance it will be the slowest marathon I've ever run, but that's not a concern any more. I hope have a good race, set the state record and have something to build on," said Schlau. "I'm trying to do some things to get me more motivated. I've kind of lost the competitive edge. It hasn't been there. I haven't done what I'm capable of doing."
BY THE NUMBERS
This year's marathon event has more than 1,100 registered for the marathon, about 1,800 for the half marathon and about 400 for the 5K. Race registration has been closed since early October.
The largest number of finishers in each event is 1,173 in the marathon in 1999, 1,517 in the half marathon in 2001, and 462 in the 5K in 1998, according to local running stat guru Cedric Jaggers.
Course records for the marathon were set by Terry Stanley in 1983 (on the Isle of Palms course) with a 2:21:24 and by Tom Mather (at Kiawah) in 1998 with 2:28:13. The top female finish was Patty Fulton in 1999 with a 2:51:02.
For the half marathon, two male runners are tied for a course record with times of 1:06:24. Ken Frenette ran his in 1993 and Eric Ashton set his in 1994. The fastest female in the half was Megan Othersen who ran a 1:15:12 in 1987.
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Scribe