Marathon: COMPLETE

Karl & I just before the race

Yesterday I reached the goal of all this training, and ran the Marine Corps Marathon alongside my brother in Washington DC. We were graciously hosted and supported by my father, who ran the same marathon in 1992.

We began our marathon weekend with a great pasta dinner together, "carb loading" on Saturday night. On race day the following morning, we got up promptly at 5:00am and donned our running gear.

rising up at Pentagon station

The metro was completely packed with thousands of runners and supporters, so much so it felt like the NY subway at rush hour!

3:59, baby!!!

We walked our way around and made it to the rally area around 7:00am, then Karl and I began our walk to the starting line. We got there just in time at 7:45, and with Karl's encouragement, I went all the way up to the 3:59 marker (they group marathon runners by expected finish time so that the faster people can cross the starting line first... I was really justy hoping for a 4:30)

They fired a large Howitzer cannon, and the race began! It took us only about 3 minutes to cross the starting line together, whereupon Karl took off like a rocket at his natural fast pace. I caught a glimpse of him about 10 minutes later and sprinted forward to say hello. We ran briefly together before he went fast again.

I was feeling really great and ran the first 4 or 5 miles on my toes, top form. About then I paired up with a beautiful runner all clad in pink who was coincidentally a professional pace setter for other marathons. Pace Setters are runners who are very experienced and run every mile at a perfect clock pace so that others can track alongside them and keep a steady pace. We chatted as we ran for about the next hour but I was feeling so good I just took off and ran ahead. She caught up to me again around mile 17 and we chatted for another hour or so. I was feeling so good that I could do anything!

The crowd was truly amazing and seemed to have boundless enthusiasm, cheering and waving signs for every runner. I high-fived so many people I lost count, including a bunch of little kids and even a golden Buddha, which is a blessing of good luck. There was also more than a dozen live bands that played on the sides of the course, from bluegrass to folk to rock and roll. It was really fun dancing to the beats of those bands as I ran, especially the 3 or 4 full on marching bands with drums and brass sections.

At mile 21 my running mate warned me we were about to hit the 14th street bridge, a nasty hill. I kind of laughed, because I love up-hills and trained strong on them in Atlanta. I was actually feeling so good that I suggested we sprint up it for kicks. She looked at me and said "look, I'm running two more marathons in the next 10 days, this is just a training run for me, but you go ahead and enjoy yourself." So I did. My mistake. I sprinted up that bridge, and continued the sprint down the other side, and halfway down got this nasty cramp in my gut, like I hadn't had since high school. I saw my pace mate pass me on the far right in silence. My legs began to hurt badly. By the time I got to mile 22, with a man waving a sign saying "Make Crystal City Your Bitch!", I was smiling yet suffering. My pace reduced to the dreaded jog. At mile 23 I was passed by one of the "groundpounders" a group of 60+ year-olds who have run the Marine Corps more than 25 times each. I knew all I had to do was keep putting one foot in front of the other. I concentrated completely on that task.

Right after the groundpounder encounter though, I heard someone yelling my name. I looked around and was so happy to see Karl, headed up the other direction (this was one of the rare places on the course where the route goes 2 ways on a street). That re-inspired me. I put my all into it, grunting with each and every footfall.

I finally made it back to the start line, which meant less than 3/4 mile to go to the finish at the Iwo Jima Memorial. Someone yelled "keep going! you're on track for 4:00!" This really got me excited. 4:00 was my original goal for this marathon before I even started training, but I had long ago given up on it when my average training pace stayed completely steady at around 10:10 minutes / mile.

But then before I knew it, I saw the finish line, and this huge lightning bolt of energy shot through me. I'm even crying now as I write this, feeling the pure passion of that moment. I began an all out sprint to the top of the hill, almost pushing over some stragglers in the process. I entered the final 100 yards and they had massive football stadium bleachers on either side, and all the crowd was screaming and cheering. I launched across the finish line and let out a great barbaric yawlp!!! I was in total shock. My legs couldn't stop moving, yet I almost felt like I was completely detached from my body. I shared a hug with a young runner named Katie, got my medal, and then re-united with Karl for some cheer and brotherly camaraderie.

My body was going into shock and I needed to lay down but we were in the momentum of the human funnel and had to keep walking inside the fence until we got out. 15 minutes later we found a nice patch of lawn on a hill and I completely passed out for a timeless moment of post race bliss.

So that was my race. Those last few miles were actually the hardest thing I've driven myself to do in my entire life. I accomplished my internal goal of completing the marathon while running the whole time, even while drinking water :) I even accomplished my lofty goal of 4 hours. And I really cherished the experience of sharing that with my brother. I hope our family can run many more in the future!



OO-RAH!!!