Wow..just plain wow...I would have to say the overall experience of this marathon would have to top any and all races I've done. I didn't run the time I was aiming for but took some valuable things from the race.
I had so many pinch me monments from the time I made it to the Hotel and chatted with Jared Ward, Sammy Chelanga, and Mbarak Hussein over some breakfast. Later riding up the elevator with Molly Huddle and snapping a quick pic with her. Talking and meeting the Zap fitness guys (Tyler Pennel and Grif Graves) Graves and I warmed up together and talked hunting and fishing on the ride over to the staging hotel. Realizing how small the running world is..I share many running buddies with a lot of these elite athletes who were extreemly kind, humble and seem to have good heads on their shoulders.
I also met up with FRB Blogger Drew who just happened to be in the same hotel. Drew is a super nice and a lot of fun to hang out with. We made a really funny story on our trip to the airport..More later on that-
Race Morning
I just happened to room with Uli Steidl and heard him hop out of bed just before 5 I hopped up too. Got on my racing suit and headed down to the hospitality suite for some breakfast. I ended up eating a bagel with peanut butter and scarfed down a couple of bananas. I went back up to the room and grabbed my sweat drop bag and told Drew that I would meet him down in the lobby to catch the 6 bus over to the stagging hotel. I got down there and several folks were waiting around too. I met up with Mbarak and snapped a quick pic and chatted about his record in the marathon. He is a super nice runner and very fast at that.
I got on the bus and Drew had made it on already. I sat down with Grif Graves from Zap...this was his debut marathon. We hit it off really well and I think helped each other to stay calm...we got to the hotel and entered a big empty room that had refreshments food water/coffee/tea what ever you wanted.
I ran into Micheal Wardian their and chatted with him and Scotts coach Ben Rosario for a little, then about 7:30 did some warm up miles with Grif around the hotel and emptied the tanks out. We had an escort take us over to the start line. Jogged around a bit more and dropped our bags off at the UPS truck did a few strides and lined up.
On the start line I lined up behind Grif and right next to Uli and Mbarak, Drew was just behind me. We took off and I stayed focused on the ground for close to the first mile or so till things thinned out. We started in a lot of building and going under a big bridge so I didn't really pay attention to my watch. When we thinned out somewhat I spotted Wardian and saw that he was really hitting some good tangents so I followed him because i didn't know the course. The weather was right at perfect. I dropped my hat at 1 mile marker clock. My time on my watch was within seconds of the official time. At mile 2 we had a nice pop up hill that kept the pace honest but didn't take too much out of you. I had a shout out by a fellow runner about mile 3 Justin Gable from Amarillo Tx who I ran with at OKC earlier this year.. He looked sharp and stayed just ahead of me. About mile 10 I passed a Keynan that fell off the main pack who looked like he was hurting pretty bad.
I was really amazed at how close Twin Cities sectator participation was to Boston. It seemed to me that the whole race someone was cheering me on...I had Butler on my bib and a YEE YEE headband that was a popular item for folks to yee yee me along the way..
I was reeling in Wardian at 13 and thought I might even get around him...I knew this was the fastest I had ever came through the 1/2 point in a marathon. 1:14:51 I felt really good to this point..
Around 14-15 I started hearing people say the women pack was catching me...I caught a dude around 15 that looked like he may have peed on himself.. he kept taking water and throwning it on his junk for some reason...that is all I could think he was doing..ha.
At 16 I felt like I hit the wall I mean 0 gas in the tank.. I forced myself to take a caffine gu and through in some stay alert gum. I was passed by 3 Kenyan women and later by another who I tried to stay close to. From 16-23 these miles were really tough I would say it was an all out survival mode... I knew that if I could get through 23 that I would have a little down hill help. I tried to not focus on my time but to just maintain what pace I had.
About mile 24 I had people start coming back to me and i just gutted it out the best I could...I got 5 people or so in the last couple of miles and got in a duke out with a guy at the line and just got him..
When i made my way to the tent and got my stuff i saw all the txt from folks that said my time wasn't listed.. then I had a txt that had my time like 2 minutes slower so I found some official and told them i was close to Wardian and gave them a estimated time I came though...They got it all fixed and I ended up getting 9th overall master.. which should get me in the money. I met Drew there who had a PR..Also Grif who ran a 2:20 debut but was really displeased with his time.
Drew and I jumped in the massage line and hung out there for a bit...We were invited to a really cool after party and rubbed elbows with alot of elite guys several hrs later.
I made some really good friends and stories that I will never forget. So thankful for the whole entire weekend.
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