It is always fun to run a marathon in a new city. Having run the Chicago marathon the past two years, I have gotten used to the comforts of running a race that I have run before. I know the layout of the race, I know exactly where to go, and I know the parts of town where my friends will be cheering for me, and so forth. I wasn't sure quite what to expect for the Marine Corp Marathon. I knew that the highest elevation points in the race were going to be at mile 3, mile 8 and the last 26th mile. I knew the course would start in Virginia and bring us back into the DC area. And that was about it.
Though the amount of people running the Marine Corp marathon seems comparable to Chicago's marathon, it actually only has about half the amount of racers as Chicago has. (There were 21,690 people who finished the marathon.) Security was much more involved in this race. This race was the first race where I had to have my gear check bag checked by Marines before I could enter the race area.
The Marine Corp Marathon for me, was a hard course for me compared to the Chicago marathon. Here in Chicago, I have been spoiled by how flat Chicago is. Even though I knew the miles where the highest elevation would be, for some reason I didn't quite think that would mean the miles before that point would all be uphill.
The worse part for me were miles 20-23, where you run up the highway and then onto what seems like a never ending bridge into Pentagon city. The temp for that day called for sunny 65 degrees which is an ideal temp for a race, but on that interminable bridge with no water in sight, the weather felt like it was high of 80 degrees.
Yet, as tired as I was while running, what I love most about running a marathon, is that there are so many inspiring moments along the way that makes you forget about the pain. (well for a couple minutes at least) The wheelchair start for this race was only 15 minutes before the start for all other racers. The first three miles were all uphill so I ran by a couple wheelchair racers who were struggling to wheel themselves up hill. The hills were hard enough for my legs, I can't imagine having to use my arm power to push myself up for three miles straight! It is so inspiring to me the way other runners cheer each other on. As we were all pushing up the hill, I could hear runners cheer on the wheelchair participants. When I was experiencing a "hitting the wall" moment on the never ending bridge and was panting for water and I just stopped to walk, another runner ran by me and told me that I could do it! Whoever you are, thank you for you are the one that inspired me to stop walking and run!
I saw a marine unit running with bags and guns on their shoulders and saw that they ran in a protective unit and were surrounding a wheelchair racer to give him ample amount of space. After completing the trek on the long bridge, you have to run up an incline in order to run back down the highway, I saw a father pushing his grown child in a stroller to raise money for the disease she was suffering from. As tired as I was, I could not even imagine trying to run and push someone up a hill at the same time! I felt that I should not be complaining about my own pain if that poor guy had to run AND push someone.
The final 26th mile, you have to run up an incline to get to the last .2 miles. Sure it probably was not much of an incline but it is definitely much more steep than the one in Chicago's last 26th mile. It took all my strength just not to stop running on the hill. I was feeling so tired near the end, my legs felt like they were running through deep mud, and I was just willing my legs to go over the finish line. It was almost a surreal feeling crossing over the finish line. My finish time was 4:01:37.
I am super thankful for my two person cheering crowd - my boyfriend and my brother, who not only woke up at the crack of dawn to go to the race with me, but made sure to be at mile 10, 16, and 23. My BF and Bro even tried to run with me for a couple mins at a couple points just so they could talk to me. I really looked forward to the miles where I knew I would see them. I didn't realize how much the thought of seeing them would help me get through the race. (THANKS BF AND BRO!!!)
After the race, I feel like you always go over in your mind the things you could have done that would have gotten you a better time. Maybe if I did not stop as long for water during certain miles,would I have gotten a better time? If I did not walk for 30 seconds along the bridge, would my time have gone down? And though I can't help but think about this, I am also very proud of myself for making it through. To me, this course was harder for me than Chicago with all of the inclines, and if I can make a 4:01:37 time, I am only hoping that means the next time I do Chicago I can do much better than 4:01:37.
Congrats Rita!
ReplyDelete