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This is long. I remember reading about other people's experiences on
the web before I started training and they provided my motivation for
first joining the marathon team. I'm very excited to have completed
the marathon, it was an experience unlike any other in my life. Just
remember that finishing a marathon is easy if you stick with some sort
of training program. It's okay if you don't do it perfectly, but I
love running so much I couldn't help going out a lot. Now, on to the
tale of race day.....
I'll skip the part about the night before and the port-a-potties line
and go straight to the starting line. Like most road races in a city
of any size the there was a huge pack of runners. Marathons have
unofficial groups divided by expected finish time with the fastest
groups gathering towards the front of the pack. I started just behind
the 3h:40m group since I wanted to keep a 8m:30s/mile pace for at
least the first half of the race. The announcer started a count-down,
fired a gun and we were off. Or rather we started walking towards the
start mat. About a minute later I crossed the line. A computer chip
attached to my shoe started a timer that would measure my actual
moving time. Unfortunately prizes are given according to race time
:-). I was aiming to simply cross a similar mat 42.195km (26.2mi for
the metric deprived) away.
Once moving we completely covered 3 lines of a road for 5 minutes,
with people spilling over on both sides. After drinking large amounts
of water for a day and then waiting in the starting shoot many people
had to relieve themselves pretty quickly. The race had port-a-potties
set up every mile but most people found bushes much easier. I waited
too long and used a chain link fence next to a field, saving the potty
for the more shy women.
Once I adjusted to the race atmosphere the first hour flew by. I
remember looking forward from the top of hill and seeing a river of
people for as far as the eye could see, turned around and saw the same
thing again. There are a lot of crazy people out there. After the
relay exchange point at half way I concentrated on watching my pace. I
was staying just ahead of the 3:40 pace group. More experienced
runners had told me that the going starts to get tough around mile 18.
I felt fine, thanking my training and careful attention to my
breathing and pace upto that point. My knees and one ankle hurt but
were not painful. Pretty soon I started talking to another runner. He
was running his 18th marathon and had another marathon in 6 days. We
continued talking when all of a sudden the 3:40 pace group rushed past
us. He had slowed down a bit to save himself for the next week. I
picked up the pace and pulled ahead.
At this point I was still feeling very good. My breathing was easy and
I could I have cruised into the finish just ahead of the 3:40 group.
But I'm crazy. Why not give at least 100%? From my training I knew I
could push hard at the end of a long run but I hadn't gone 6mi hard
after 20. Until that point I had been going with the flow but suddenly
I was going past groups of runners. And my breathing become much more
labored. It seemed like some people even turned to see who was making
so much noise before I went past them. The moving quickly became much
harder. By the last mile I wasn't passing anyone and my body was
begging for a walk. I kept looking ahead for the finish. Then it
appeared, about 600m along the road and 3m vertically UP. As I always
do, I slowed for the hill, but continued to run. Someone in the crowd
shouted "Go Tom!" but I was way too tired to look for them or respond.
I just went forward into the shoot lined with spectators. It felt like
I was finishing a massive race. I remember crossing the line and
waving my arms over my head in victory. A review of the video tape
shows me running over the line with my head rolling around on my
shoulders and then putting my hands out to tummy level while slowing
down.
After getting food, water, t-shirt, and medal from the wonderful
volunteers I stumbled out of the finish area. The emotions were very
nearly overwhelming. I didn't know if I should hug everyone I saw or
crash onto the ground and cry. From what I hear(tm) this is similar to
how users of X feel. Being Tom, I avoided all emotional outbursts and
asked someone for directions to the clothes bag tent, collected my
clothes and went to look for some food.
It is now 00:07. About 13h:30m has passed since I crossed that finish
line but I can still feel the run in my blood. It was an awesome
experience. Completing a marathon only takes dedication to your
training program. But even without going long distances running is
fun and it will get you in excellent shape.
Take care and thank you for reading,
Tom
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