Race: 26.2 miles.
Time: 03:29:47 - 8:01 ppm. 10k split, 45:26; Half split, 1:36:29; 20 mi split, 2:31:28. 83rd overall, 12th in age group.
Full Results
Well, where to begin? I am about to write the details of how I finally became a marathoner. As I write this the following Monday, I still don't think it has sunk in yet. I spent most of Saturday after the race being disappointed that I didn't run faster - I thought I could at least get 3:15, and was well on my way all the way through mile 18 before my leg muscles started cramping up. That's crazy talk though - I finished the thing, and in a very respectable time. I'm hungry for another shot at it, but I'm very proud of what I accomplished. I'm going to describe this event in detail, breaking it down into sections.
Pre-Race
After a restless night's sleep, I jumped out of bed at 5:20 a.m. and ate some oatmeal and a banana. I showered and took care of some pre-race grooming and then proceeded to put together my racing outfit. I was going to wear my longer, pocketed Under Armour shorts and an Upgrade Lifestyle tech tee. On top of that would be a long-sleeve dry-fit, my Advantage Parking hat, and some North Face gloves. These items would be shed when I deemed myself properly warmed up.
I left home and arrived at the Bank of America Corporate Center around 6:45 - plenty of time. I parked there and hung out in Founders Hall for a bit. It was just me and a couple security guards - very quiet. Around 7 I jogged down to Three Wells Fargo, where I would meet David Brinkley, his girlfriend Alisha and sister Karrie, Daniel Eggers, Josh Brewer, Brian Baum, and Mike Oelz. David's friend Jeff was also there. I stretched out for a bit and put the two gels I would be using last - including one with caffeine - in my shorts and put the other two in my gloves. It was under 40 at the time and I figured I would keep the gloves on for awhile. Baum actually joined us later and informed me of a bathroom at Panera Bread that had been empty when he used it. All the buildings downtown were packed with runners, surprisingly. That's surprising because normally everyone crowds into the convention center. I later found out the city decided to throw another "Screw You" at this event by locking the convention center at the last minute. Wow... There was no sign of Oelz or Brewer yet as I jogged down to Panera, making sure my watch was working, used the bathroom one last time, and then jogged back to Tryon for the start, right in front of the Levine Center for the Arts. Adam Mull spotted me and we exchanged a man-hug and wished each other luck. Stephen Spada yelled out good luck from a distance. I found Oelz and Eggers in the corral, and then spotted a long-haired, shirtless Josh Brewer. We embraced and he mentioned, ever so stoically, that this was a great cause for the three of us to be reunited. I agreed and mentioned that he was a beast for running this thing shirtless. I looked around for Stan Austin and anyone else who looked like a pace leader, with poor results.
Miles 1-6: Feeling the Pace
I left Eggers, Brewer, Oelz, and Baum and settled further in the corral because I didn't want to get caught up in running too fast. I had lost Brinkley and Jamaar, who had planned on attaching himself to David in the hopes of running a huge PR in the half. There was still no sign of any pacers. The national anthem really got me fired up, and after a casual command of "Go" we were off. Here I was, actually running a marathon. Surprisingly, I had never really gotten nervous. I knew this was going to be a very long morning and that I had plenty of time to ease into things. Before we turned onto Third Street, I looked down at my Garmin and noticed that it wasn't measuring distance or pace.
Are you kidding me? I shut it off and restarted it as we jogged down Third and into the morning sun. The watch began the process of locating satellites, and I tried not to panic as minutes passed by and it still hadn't come on. We crossed the first mile marker just under I-277 and finally, my watch came on. I could still use it to gauge my pace, which is all that really mattered, but unfortunately it's useless for judging the data post-race. Oh well. I knew something was bound to go wrong but I didn't need it that badly.
We ran up Third/Providence, turned on Charlottetowne, and then again on Randolph. I tried to hug the curbs so as to avoid running further than necessary. There was a large crowd of us running together and I made a point not to let myself get stuck behind someone who was running too slow. Doing so led to me running a 7:02 mile around the third mile, which unfortunately would prove to be my fastest mile of the day. Other than that, though, I was doing a great job of keeping the pace easy. We ran down Colville and turned on Providence and I tried to ask the people around me if they knew where the pacer was. No one had seen anybody. I sidled up next to an older woman and began chatting with her. I never introduced myself but given the results I discovered her to be Julie Spitzer from Greenville, SC, aged 40-44. She looked like she knew what she was doing and told me she was shooting for around 3:20 and that she kept an even pace if I wanted to hang around. She told me this was her 11th marathon so I figured she knew what she was doing. Julie is about 5 feet tall, if that, so I had a hard time keeping track of her amongst the other runners, but I tried not to let her get too far ahead of me. She put some distance on me up the steep Providence Road hill, but I never let her stray too far away. At mile 5, the intersection of Providence and Sharon Amity, I passed my parents and Eggers' wife Katie for the first time. I could barely see them because the sun was in my eyes. After that I took my first gel and split the 10k at 45:26 - 7:20 per mile, perfect. I was truly keeping things easy at this point, which is all I really wanted to do.
Miles 7-15: Enjoying the Sights and Sounds
I saw Ryan Watson in Foxcroft and talked to him for a little bit; he and his friend were running the half. I left them and ran down Sharon, waving and pumping my fist every time I passed a crowd of people. I was now gearing up for the Booty Loop section, where I was prepared to shed some clothing, knowing my parents would be there. I took off my gloves and hat, then immediately put my hat back on as I felt it was still a bit cold. I tossed my parents the gloves as they waved and cheered, then passed Kati Robertson and Ben Malmquist as they did the same. Several people later told me they didn't recognize me on account of the hat, but oh well! Running down Queens Road West, I found myself catching up to Julie, then running by her. I knew I may regret this but I wanted to go on feel, and I was feeling great as I began to put some distance between myself and her. The half-marathoners were about done and I continued to reel in several of them. I turned splits of 7:19, 7:14, and 7:17 on this section of the course, even though it was hilly. When I got to the big hill on Morehead I eased back a bit so it wouldn't hurt too much, then turned and waved as Jason Martin and John Compton (and Caitlin? I heard a female voice cheering but couldn't see who it was) cheered me past. Jason remarked that I was incognito with the hat and long sleeves. When we got to the half-marathon split, I pumped my fist and slapped hands with Rob Ducsay, the Chic-fil-a cow, and several other people. There was a raucous crowd and some music at this point and I really fed off that. Immediately, though, things got pretty lonely. The half-marathoners were gone now, and so too was most of the crowd support. I passed John Fillette and Dezi Kabouris and came through the half in 1:36:29 - on pace for a 3:13 marathon. I had not started out too quickly and was still feeling great at this point.
Running down Tryon Street, I came upon another runner who appeared to be struggling a bit and I asked him his goal. He said he was hoping to run 3:30 but had no idea whether he was on track or not, having failed to properly do the math after seeing the clocks. Someone get this guy a GPS watch. I told him that he was way ahead of schedule and may want to hang back as the course was about to get pretty rough. He thanked me and I went by him. Helping other runners, and being helped in return, was about to become a big theme at this point in the race.
I rolled down Camden Avenue and tried to ignore the aroma from Price's Chicken Coop and Phat Burrito. Emily Hansen was here cheering with a bunch of other girls, and she even ran a few strides with me, remarking that I looked like I was doing great. Well, I was feeling great! I passed my parents in front of Pike's and tossed them my hat as they waved and cheered.
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| Waving at Mom and Dad as I approach them on Camden Avenue. |
Miles 16-20: A Turn for the Worse
I found myself unpleasantly surprised at how awful the downtown section was. I knew there would be some hills on Mint, Third, and Trade, and I knew the pavement would be rougher on the legs in this section, but the placement on the course combined with the sudden lack of crowd support made this, in my opinion, the worst part of the course by far. I passed Theoden Janes near the stadium and called out, "How long is this race, again?" He laughed and told me I was looking good. I soon started hurting, though. After we came down Trade and turned on Caldwell, Julie came trotting past me and quickly disappeared up the road. Oops. Maybe I should have stayed with her back on the Booty Loop. I passed Mike Mitchell on Caldwell Street and gave him the so-so signal when he asked how I was feeling. I passed my parents again at the corner of Parkwood and Davidson and tossed them my long-sleeve shirt.
I ran up Davidson and started walking. I had stopped a couple times previously to shake out some leg cramps but this was the first time I had actually stopped to walk. My left foot was completely numb, and when I tried to stretch my legs my calf locked up and I kind of fell down onto the curb. A runner passed and asked if I was ok. "Just leg cramps," I responded, "my legs just quit working but I'm ok." "Just try to run through it," she said. I found that even just walking for about thirty seconds seemed to make me feel better, so I just tried to shake things off. At this point I had taken three Gu gels and water at every stop, so I didn't think I was dehydrated. I hadn't started out too fast and I hadn't stopped to use the bathroom or for any other reason at all. Everything had been perfect up to this point, and now leg cramps were ruining what had been shaping up as an incredible marathon debut. For awhile I simply ran through the pain but it would get to the point where my legs would actually lock up completely, and I had to catch myself on the curb to avoid falling down.
The Final 10k: Toughing it Out and Staying Positive
The clock at mile 20 read 2:31:28, and so I realized that even if I ran the last 10k in an hour I would still be right at 3:30, and that would be a time I could be proud of in my first marathon. The fears of hitting the wall that clouded my brain when I was downtown had subsided because I had, in fact, hit the wall, and now it was just a matter of getting through it. I composed myself when I ran through NoDa, passing through the "wall" which I found was about as wide as a doorway. I was wobbly at this point and almost ran into it. I was disappointed at the lack of crowd support here - I had been told it would be good and it was almost nonexistent. I managed to put together an 8:36 mile in this section, which I can assure you took everything I had. I was still running when I turned onto the Plaza, when once again my legs locked up and I almost fell down in front of a startled police officer. I had passed Dave's friend Jeff downtown, and he had passed me back on Davidson, and we continued to go around each other a few times in the last part of the race. I also did the same thing with another runner who introduced himself as Devin. Devin told me this was his 20th marathon and that I was really blowing it out of the water for a first-timer. I thanked him and we tried to encourage each other as he was also half-running, half-walking on account of leg cramps. I passed my parents and chugged an entire bottle of water as Devin and I limped down the Plaza. There was a large crowd in the middle of the road, and the runner in front of me took a beer that he was offered, which caused the crowd to go nuts. He drank a little bit of it and dumped the rest on his head.
I was no longer worried at this point because I knew we were almost done. I left Devin and passed Jeff for good on Hawthorne Lane. Some older guys asked me if I knew the course and I told them there was a big hill coming up and then they were home free. They thanked me and wished me luck as they trotted past and soldiered on. Several runners passed me when I was walking and said something to the effect of, "come on man, you got this." I appreciated the encouragement but I ran when I could and walked when I got to the point of falling over, and this was basically how the race went for me all the way to the finish. I am proud to say that I actually ran all the way up the Hawthorne hill, partly because Jason Martin was screaming at me. Thanks, Jason. Without the support of other runners and my friends, this race would have been a whole lot tougher. Jason seemed legitimately concerned when he saw me and I told him I was dealing with cramped muscles and just trying to get through it.
When we turned on Martin Luther King I found myself ecstatic and in disbelief that we were actually about to be done, and that I was about to complete my first marathon. I heard two women coming up behind me, saying something "You go this, so close, now here let's get around this guy (meaning me).." They passed me with a male runner who was finishing up. I thought, "Oh hell no.." and then passed them back, along with several other runners. I pounded my chest and blew a kiss to the heavens as I crossed the finish line. My legs gave out one final time and this time I really teetered but once again caught myself and put my hands to my knees. A couple people asked me if I was ok. I was more than ok. This was, all at once, the greatest feeling I'd ever experienced and the worst feeling I'd ever experienced.
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| Hobbling in to the finish. |
Post-Race
Someone handed me one of those plastic bag-looking things and draped a medal around my neck. I grabbed the medal and kissed it. A whirlwind of thoughts raced through my head, ranging from confusion as to how things fell apart for me to elation that I had actually finished a marathon. My parents found me and I hugged them, thanking them for being there for me as they always have (more on that in a moment). I tried to sit down but my whole body locked up so I realized that wouldn't work, so I walked around and sampled some of what was there for me: Gatorade, water, bananas, Great Harvest bread (my mom loves that place and sneaked away with a couple samples), beer, garlic pizza, and a granola bar. The Gatorade and the garlic pizza really hit the spot. The beer made me feel like I was going to pass out. I found Stan Austin and congratulated him on finishing his eleventh marathon of the year. He had paced for 3:30 - Stan can run sub-3 - but said it was a rough day for him.
I was walking around aimlessly when I heard a familiar voice say, "Well how was your first marathon?" It was Eggers, who had just notched another PR by running 2:59. Brinkley PR'd by ten minutes from last year and qualified for Boston with a 3:04. Josh Brewer outdid both of them by running 2:58. Baum ran 1:27 in the half, Jamaar 1:31 for a huge PR, and Oelz finished it in 1:38, which means I must have nearly caught him before the split. Billy Shue finished second in the marathon with a new PR of 2:38.
I found Billy, John, Clayton, Paul, and Carolyn after the race and tried to soak up the moment. This was an incredible experience and I cannot wait to do another one. My favorite parts were touring the city and playing to the crowd - every time I passed a large crowd I waved and pumped them up, receiving loud cheers in return. And this is a small race - I can only imagine what that must be like in a big marathon.
Dedication
I was brought up in a home where I wasn't allowed to play video games or even watch tv during the day, unless the weather was bad. This led to a childhood of constantly running around in the yard - pretending to be Jerry Rice or Desmond Howard or Marshall Faulk - or playing basketball in the driveway for hours on end, until I literally could no longer stand up and my mom had to berate me to come inside and join the family for dinner. I have led a life full of athletic achievements, ranging from the mundane to the pretty outstanding, and my parents have been there every step of the way. In a society where laziness and poor habits are almost encouraged, I was raised to be an athlete - and I'm now a marathoner. Thanks, Mom and Dad. I dedicate my first marathon to you.
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| Proudly wearing that medal, and actually managing a smile. |
