Well, the Marathon Girl (me) has successfully run (and finished) her first marathon. Boy, that was a long, long distance! The odds were in favo(u)r of rain, but thankfully, we had just overcast skies and perfect temperatures. Three of us in our Sole Mates running group couldn't find the meeting spot (don't you just hate when people say 'you can't miss it', 'cause it usually means it's possible to miss it). We were on our own. Then, just as we were lining up, we found the 5:30 pace group. That's the time we were pretty sure we could run, so we decided to follow Charlie, the pace leader. Charlie bolted from the start and was running a really fast pace (as you know, I pretty much only run one speed, and Charlie was running faster than that). Pretty soon, I lost my two Sole Mates. I figured if I could just glue on to Charlie, I'd be OK (I really didn't have a choice since I couldn't get my watch to work). After the first six miles, he announced that we were now on schedule for a 5:30 finish...clock time! For the rest of the race, Charlie and I ran a pace that was more to my liking. The crowds were terrific, handing out gels, oranges, ice, fig newtons, and my personal favo(u)rite...paper towels (you can do everything with a paper towel!).
It was like a big party for most of the way. The last 2-3 miles were on a road ramp and bridge (felt like a mountain), so there weren't many spectators. At the top of the bridge, Charlie said that there was no rule saying people HAD to stick with him if they wanted to sprint to the finish. I knew that, but by the end of the race I was having trouble doing even simple math (....let's see, we just passed the 23 mile marker...there are 26.2 miles in a marathon....is that 2 or 3 miles left....hmmmm.....and I was pondering this conundrum for at least one mile). I did sprint to the end and saw Gerry and Dad and Irene. They gave me a bouquet of flowers at the finish. What a wonderful day! I say 'day' 'cause it took the better part of it to finish (5:23:59). In this sense, I BEAT GERRY! Yes, the poor man has never in his life run for 5 hours 23 minutes 59 seconds. Needless to say I will not see Boston in the near future!
It was an extra special day to see Gerry, Dad and Irene waiting (and waiting and waiting) for me at so many stops along the way. I'll never forget that day!
Here are some photos of the race. Enjoy.Lois
No comments:
Post a Comment