It's 6pm and my first marathon experience is in the books. It was well run, a beautiful course, and the weather was perfect.
It started last night when I went to the Expo. I picked up my packet - I probably should have gone with the large, instead of the extra large, t-shirt, but maybe it will shrink in the wash. I also arrived in time to hear most of the guest speaker, Dick Beardsley, who won the 1981 London Marathon, and is perhaps best known for his 1982 "Duel In the Sun" with Alberto Salazar at Boston, where he was narrowly beaten by his countryman. Quite inspirational, even if he has had more accidents and challenges in his life than Wile E. Coyote.
The guy running the anchor leg, Jon, met me there, along with my pal Cory who was originally slated to run the leadoff leg but found a last minute replacement. Packet pickup was a breeze, then we went to eat. Burgers and beer. Hardly a healthy carbo-load, but I figured, I'm running 7 miles, not 26.2. I can handle it.
I laid out my gear, attached my number (3010, like my teammates), and went to bed.
I got up at 5:30, made a cup of tea and a blueberry bagel, applied menthol rub to my legs (which I've found has really helped my shins, if you need a "hot tip"), and Bodyglide to my thighs (indispensible), and off I went.
I arrived downtown at around 6:15, and there were already hundreds of runners milling about, which made me concerned about parking, but in the end, I had little trouble finding a spot in the parking structure by Crown Center shops.
My friends weren't so lucky though, and to cut a long story short, I never did touch base with the first legger, Danny, though he at least did get started on time. Cory had agreed to taxi us from relay point to relay point, but was having so much trouble parking, we eventually decided it would be safer for me to catch one of the shuttles the race had laid on to get out to my spot. By this time the race had started, so my first run of the day was to catch the bus -- I suppose it warmed me up a bit at least.
I was wearing warm clothes over my race gear, so I still needed Cory to meet me at the relay point so he could take those. I waited patiently by a fountain, trying to keep warm. The first couple of half and full marathoners dribbled past before long: inevitably the first two were African runners - 7 miles in about half an hour. Ludicrous. Soon, the stream of runners increased, before long the first woman passed, then the first relay team runner etc. Still no Cory. Would he arrive before Danny, the first leg runner? Would I have to wait there while time elapsed, or just take off in my warm gear?
Finally, I spied him on the other side of the road, though he still had to wait some time for a break in the runners to get to me. Not 5 minutes later, Danny appeared, and off I went.
Danny decided to keep running for a while, even suggesting he might run the whole race. I asked him if he was training for a marathon, and he told me that he'd actually run Chicago just last weekend. I was impressed. I told him to not feel like he had to run with me, to feel free to run on ahead, but he seemed happy enough to keep me company for a while, and in the end, it was me who ran on ahead.
The first few miles, along the Plaza, and down towards the Kansas/Missouri border before turning back was mostly straight, and I felt very comfortable as we reached the residential section. In fact, I even managed to catch up to the 4:00 pace group and pass them. I hoped that I wouldn't regret my decision to go out fast.
The next couple of miles, by some of Kansas City's most impressive real estate, was hillier than I remembered it from the drive through and I found my breathing getting somewhat more labored, but each uphill was followed by a decent downhill to regain my rhythm, and always I was aware that I wasn't running the same race as the people with the green numbers. I just had a couple of miles to go.
I took water and ran by a reggae band, feeling cool enough to run in time to the beat for a few paces. I started to speed up, knowing I had just over a mile to go, and made a turn onto Ward Parkway, the home stretch. Just a few seconds later, I could see the arch of multicolored balloons that marked the relay point. I looked at my watch. It was about 58:30. Could I make it in under an hour, which would be a PB at this distance? I sped up, and finished strongly, but I missed it by twenty seconds, coming in at 1:00:20. I handed off to Caleb, the ultramarathoner and seasoned trail runner, who shot off, and my running day was done.
Cory, Jon and another Jon - the guy who was originally going to do the third leg - were there to meet me, as was Jill. She took a couple of pics, which I'll post later. Not long after, Danny showed up and decided 13.5 miles was enough running for him for the day.
We left, Jill and I in one vehicle and the others in Cory's, to the next relay point, and with all the roads that were blocked, we arrived only just in time for Caleb, who finished his leg in just over 40 minutes. 5:40 pace. I couldn't run a quarter of a mile that fast.
Unfortunately, it was another 15 minutes before Jon showed up. He'd been dropped off in the wrong place, and the poor guy had to run an extra mile just to get to the relay point! While it was somewhat frustrating at the time, we did find it amusing that he'd specifically selected the last leg because it was the shortest segment, but ended up having to run almost as far as everyone else. After Caleb's speedy leg, we thought for sure we'd come in in under 4 hours, but now it wasn't nearly so certain.
Jill and I drove to the finish line, where she dropped me off. I just made it to the finish line in time to see Jon cross it. Gun time was 4:01 and change, but Danny had told us it had taken him a while to cross the start line, and, sure enough, the chip time was 3:58:51. Not too embarrassing, but 15 minutes slower than it should have been (of course, if we'd had the original four, you could probably have given that 15 minutes and more back because of how fast Caleb ended up being).
Afterwards we went to Jack Stack for lunch, where it amused me to learn how Cory had a blister from all the walking around he'd had to do ferrying people from place to place. In addition, the "other Jon" had also been complaining, and even Jill had said that her knee was sore from all the walking she'd had to do. Meanwhile, the runners themselves had no such complaints. Maybe they should have done some training of their own.
So, 7 miles is certainly not 26.2, but I was able to bask in the atmosphere perhaps a little more because I didn't have to worry about any "walls" to get through. I ran fast (for me), and I did my part for my team. Who could ask for more?
What it also did was reinforce my desire to run a full course in Arizona. I was expecting more carnage at the finish line, but the overwhelming majority of finishers weren't collapsing, puking or crying. They had their arms in the air and wore smiles from ear to ear. I want a piece of that action.
Stay tuned for the stats.
It started last night when I went to the Expo. I picked up my packet - I probably should have gone with the large, instead of the extra large, t-shirt, but maybe it will shrink in the wash. I also arrived in time to hear most of the guest speaker, Dick Beardsley, who won the 1981 London Marathon, and is perhaps best known for his 1982 "Duel In the Sun" with Alberto Salazar at Boston, where he was narrowly beaten by his countryman. Quite inspirational, even if he has had more accidents and challenges in his life than Wile E. Coyote.
The guy running the anchor leg, Jon, met me there, along with my pal Cory who was originally slated to run the leadoff leg but found a last minute replacement. Packet pickup was a breeze, then we went to eat. Burgers and beer. Hardly a healthy carbo-load, but I figured, I'm running 7 miles, not 26.2. I can handle it.
I laid out my gear, attached my number (3010, like my teammates), and went to bed.
I got up at 5:30, made a cup of tea and a blueberry bagel, applied menthol rub to my legs (which I've found has really helped my shins, if you need a "hot tip"), and Bodyglide to my thighs (indispensible), and off I went.
I arrived downtown at around 6:15, and there were already hundreds of runners milling about, which made me concerned about parking, but in the end, I had little trouble finding a spot in the parking structure by Crown Center shops.
My friends weren't so lucky though, and to cut a long story short, I never did touch base with the first legger, Danny, though he at least did get started on time. Cory had agreed to taxi us from relay point to relay point, but was having so much trouble parking, we eventually decided it would be safer for me to catch one of the shuttles the race had laid on to get out to my spot. By this time the race had started, so my first run of the day was to catch the bus -- I suppose it warmed me up a bit at least.
I was wearing warm clothes over my race gear, so I still needed Cory to meet me at the relay point so he could take those. I waited patiently by a fountain, trying to keep warm. The first couple of half and full marathoners dribbled past before long: inevitably the first two were African runners - 7 miles in about half an hour. Ludicrous. Soon, the stream of runners increased, before long the first woman passed, then the first relay team runner etc. Still no Cory. Would he arrive before Danny, the first leg runner? Would I have to wait there while time elapsed, or just take off in my warm gear?
Finally, I spied him on the other side of the road, though he still had to wait some time for a break in the runners to get to me. Not 5 minutes later, Danny appeared, and off I went.
Danny decided to keep running for a while, even suggesting he might run the whole race. I asked him if he was training for a marathon, and he told me that he'd actually run Chicago just last weekend. I was impressed. I told him to not feel like he had to run with me, to feel free to run on ahead, but he seemed happy enough to keep me company for a while, and in the end, it was me who ran on ahead.
The first few miles, along the Plaza, and down towards the Kansas/Missouri border before turning back was mostly straight, and I felt very comfortable as we reached the residential section. In fact, I even managed to catch up to the 4:00 pace group and pass them. I hoped that I wouldn't regret my decision to go out fast.
The next couple of miles, by some of Kansas City's most impressive real estate, was hillier than I remembered it from the drive through and I found my breathing getting somewhat more labored, but each uphill was followed by a decent downhill to regain my rhythm, and always I was aware that I wasn't running the same race as the people with the green numbers. I just had a couple of miles to go.
I took water and ran by a reggae band, feeling cool enough to run in time to the beat for a few paces. I started to speed up, knowing I had just over a mile to go, and made a turn onto Ward Parkway, the home stretch. Just a few seconds later, I could see the arch of multicolored balloons that marked the relay point. I looked at my watch. It was about 58:30. Could I make it in under an hour, which would be a PB at this distance? I sped up, and finished strongly, but I missed it by twenty seconds, coming in at 1:00:20. I handed off to Caleb, the ultramarathoner and seasoned trail runner, who shot off, and my running day was done.
Cory, Jon and another Jon - the guy who was originally going to do the third leg - were there to meet me, as was Jill. She took a couple of pics, which I'll post later. Not long after, Danny showed up and decided 13.5 miles was enough running for him for the day.
We left, Jill and I in one vehicle and the others in Cory's, to the next relay point, and with all the roads that were blocked, we arrived only just in time for Caleb, who finished his leg in just over 40 minutes. 5:40 pace. I couldn't run a quarter of a mile that fast.
Unfortunately, it was another 15 minutes before Jon showed up. He'd been dropped off in the wrong place, and the poor guy had to run an extra mile just to get to the relay point! While it was somewhat frustrating at the time, we did find it amusing that he'd specifically selected the last leg because it was the shortest segment, but ended up having to run almost as far as everyone else. After Caleb's speedy leg, we thought for sure we'd come in in under 4 hours, but now it wasn't nearly so certain.
Jill and I drove to the finish line, where she dropped me off. I just made it to the finish line in time to see Jon cross it. Gun time was 4:01 and change, but Danny had told us it had taken him a while to cross the start line, and, sure enough, the chip time was 3:58:51. Not too embarrassing, but 15 minutes slower than it should have been (of course, if we'd had the original four, you could probably have given that 15 minutes and more back because of how fast Caleb ended up being).
Afterwards we went to Jack Stack for lunch, where it amused me to learn how Cory had a blister from all the walking around he'd had to do ferrying people from place to place. In addition, the "other Jon" had also been complaining, and even Jill had said that her knee was sore from all the walking she'd had to do. Meanwhile, the runners themselves had no such complaints. Maybe they should have done some training of their own.
So, 7 miles is certainly not 26.2, but I was able to bask in the atmosphere perhaps a little more because I didn't have to worry about any "walls" to get through. I ran fast (for me), and I did my part for my team. Who could ask for more?
What it also did was reinforce my desire to run a full course in Arizona. I was expecting more carnage at the finish line, but the overwhelming majority of finishers weren't collapsing, puking or crying. They had their arms in the air and wore smiles from ear to ear. I want a piece of that action.
Stay tuned for the stats.
No comments:
Post a Comment