Kelvin Pan

Austin Motorola Marathon

February 16, 2003

26.2...Wow. If someone had suggested I run that many miles three years ago, I would have just laughed. Three years ago I was just beginning to run by joining the high school cross country team mostly as a way to lighten my load senior year and have some fun. Only after running a full year did I go out and buy my first pair of running shoes. But I digress...

Here I was in mid-February a day before the marathon was to begin. Throughout the day, I had been eating plenty of carbohydrates as recommended by Runtex and by my peers. When 7 o'clock rolled around I caught a late bus to Carrabbas where the team was meeting for the pre-race dinner. Since I got there late and it was a packed Saturday night, I took the order to go. Not having the sense to ask why the dishes were categorized under 'Antipasti,’ I ordered mussels thinking they came with pasta. Alas when I got back to my room, I found out the plate was 100% mussels. Not wanting to reorder any food, I sat down and enjoyed the meal to the movie Prefontaine. It was nearly 1 o'clock by the time I went to bed. Already this was heading off to a bad start.

Sunday morning was, as expected, cold. I presumed it was somewhere in the mid to upper 30's. At the start line I decided to keep my long-sleeved shirt which was definitely a good idea, considering that 10,000 people packed into a few acres still did not warm the place up. We started off after Nicole pointed out that it seemed like people a few hundred feet ahead of us had started to move. Our group consisted of me, Tara, Nicole, CJ, and Ben. Not much happened for the first 7 miles as we kept each other company and kept a pace of about a 3:40. The most difficult part during the first few miles was trying to dodge the discarded Powerade bottles. The way the people around me threw them seemed like they intended on finishing under 3 hours. Running through campus was definitely a landmark on the route, not only because it was mile 12, but also because of our table of supporters because I had the surprise of seeing Peter for the first time since last year. The whole time before getting to campus, I had a great time talking to CJ about in what time we hoped to finish the race, and about also both some of the odd people running around us and also cheering us on (i.e. the girl and her mom with the Rocky tape and boxing gloves). We had both decided that finishing in 3:40 would be really great. At campus, we both ran into a little trouble with running pains. It was also about the time that I decided I would have trouble finding a bathroom downtown coming from campus. Thus I decided to take my break facing the river by Clark field. For the rest of the trip after going through campus, I was mostly running alone as CJ and I stopped keeping a constant pace.

At the half marathon area, I envied the half marathoners who were able to run into the chute and be done. I never knew downtown Austin had so many hills! Right around then, the weather became colder and windier. Recalling the advice from the coach in Prefontaine, I tried to let other people break my wind. If it helped, I didn't notice it. Not particularly knowing what pace I was at, I kept running hoping for a sign. Then at one of the areas at which we had run with Austinfit, I was able to spot Luke running in the opposite direction and know that my time was not as bad as it had seemed. The 3:40 group caught up with me at mile 17 and quickly passed me up from there. This is where the marathon truly began for me. I remember trying to convince myself that I had 9 more miles to go, and that it would just be like another of our long runs on Tuesday and Wednesday. Silly me.

Near Townlake, I met up with Elena who took my picture and also relieved me of my shirt. She gave me enough encouragement to keep going. Already Ben, Nicole, and CJ had passed me and I would no longer see them until after the race. For much of the race after mile 18, I could not differentiate between the mile markers as they seemed not to move very much. At mile 23, I saw Bri go by. Out of the blue, I spotted my CS 310 TA, Karu. This was a mixed blessing because though I got to see someone I knew, I realized that as we had the same goal for a completion time, I would not make it if he passed me by too much. I could tell that he was very determined to finish the race and also complete it below the time of his goal. I talked to him for a bit and then returned to my slower pace. At every stop from then on, I took water and Powerade and also stocked up on at least two or three packets of Clif Shots. Running behind Karu, I noticed that he was using the method of running a few minutes and then walking a couple more. Every time I would get close to him while he was walking. But then just as I got within 20 feet, it would be time for him to start running again and the gap increased once more. Nearing mile twenty-five, I saw Peter again, only this time with a big box of goodies. I took a Twinkie not noticing whether or not I said 'thank you.' By this time I was just wanting to get the race over with. I ate only a few bites because by this time there were few water stands. The only stand I found from there till the finish was the beer stand. Angry at having to run such a distance, I decided I might as well take the beer. I met up with Elena again and, though the last mile was all familiar territory, desperately asked how much farther the finish was. The last .2 miles were awesome as I realized that this four hour run was finally over. Nearing the finish, I was cautious about when to sprint since I didn't want to pass out a few yards before the finish line. As I got within forty yards of the finish, I had the unexpected surprise of seeing my old cross country teammate, Tim, at the sidelines. Here I decided to just put my head down and sprint out the rest. Checking my watch as I crossed the finish line, I was overjoyed to have found that I achieved my goal of under 4 hours.

After the race, I met up with Tara and CJ. All of us looked like we had just eaten at the Jester cafeteria. For the next few days, I had to sit down slowly and had to walk like Frankenstein. But every morning I woke up, I felt better than the last. I vowed to myself I would never run another one again. Now as I write this story (nearly a month later), I say bring it on! I would like to thank God, all the marathon team members, and all the supporters on race day for making this an experience to remember.

Help for running a marathon:

* make sure to have competed in a race before the marathon

* run more than 15 miles before the marathon

* go to bed early (before midnight)

* start off slow

* know that at mile 13.1, the marathon has not even started

-Kelvin Pan