Alicia Williams

Austin Motorola Marathon

February 17, 2002

Sunday morning I was so nervous that I forgot how to drive standard, killing my car in an intersection. Luckily there was no one there! It was west campus at 5am so everyone else in the area was either still drinking or unconscious by then. Ordinarily I would be too, but this Sunday morning was different. I was headed to the MARATHON! I got to the Gateway shopping center an hour before the start time. I wandered around and ended up in the movie theatre lobby, which was nice cause I got to use a real flush toilet. Right on! Breakfast consisted of things I stole from my dorm the previous morning, some bagel and an apple or something. When the time came that I needed to head to the start line I had to ask where it was. Fortunately I asked someone who actually knew and was there when the gun went off. Now I didn't actually hear a gun, so that was a guess. Anyways, I was soon happily plodding along and carrying more than enough crap in my snazzy cyclist top. I'm sorry but anything that says 'shebeest' on it is just too cool, and the pockets in the back are a bonus. Let's see what was in there...tylenol, gu, extra radio batteries, chapstick, hair ties, and eventually my gloves. I was a total boyscout/grandma prepared-for-anything marathoner.

I was hyper careful to maintain a slow pace, and threw in walk breaks to avoid overexerting myself. Yeah, I know. Isn't a marathon going to require a little exertion you lazy, lazy girl? Here's the deal: My goal at Motorola was to finish the race, and I was going to make damn sure that was possible. At the runners expo Jeff Galloway talked about the benefits of walk breaks. While listening to him I thought to myself "This guy looks pretty weathered, I bet he's done a lot of running. He may know what he's talking about...119 marathons? What?" So I heeded his advice, and took a short walk break or two every mile. Even then I still had a decent amount of pain in my body and had to stop and stretch things twice during the race. The weather was so pretty and there were a lot of pretty things to look at. Perhaps the prettiest thing I saw was the MARATHON TEAM cheering on the sidelines! It meant a lot to see them out there supporting everyone. I thank you friends! All the people on the sides and random musicians were such a morale booster and welcome distraction. Seeing Lezlie sporting a giant guinness hat at Congress and 6th was a uniquely Austin moment that is going to be a part of my race memory for a while. Gotta love it.

The end of the race was so great, I loved thinking that it was just four then three then two to go. When I finally saw the beer table I was really tempted but I didn't know if it was a joke or what. Next year I will not pass up the beer. The most incredibly excellent part of the whole race was mile marker 26. Not only did it herald the about-to-be-realization of my goal, but also because as I neared it the perfect song graced my headphones. Now before you think I am a big weirdo lemme explain something: I was in the band in high school. The marching band. I am not a former track star or an ex-cross country person or the like. It takes music to get me moving. Just like the sucky Runtex 30K in Buda was redeemed by a finish to the perfect song, the same song kicked my arse in gear for the last .3 miles of the marathon. So to the finish I sailed, lipsyncing "whenever, wherever" like a true jackass, darting through people like a jerk, and loving every second of it. I can't wait to see my finish photo...if you cover up the time (4:53) I might look like some sort of fast person.

Our team claims that anyone can go the 26.2 miles and of that I am proof. At my first group run I said "I don't have any business running 5 miles". I did it anyways, and I felt cool afterwards. Today I feel 21.2 miles cooler than I did then. I am so happy to have done this! I encourage anyone who wants to run a marathon to give it a try. Don't let 26.2 freak you out, you can run it next year with me if you want. I'll even go slow just for you. ;)