It was, without a doubt, the greatest challenge I've ever faced, made all the harder by the deplorable race day conditions.
I had four main goals for the race:
- Actually complete the distance (ie, all 26.2 miles)
- Run non-stop for as long as possible
- Run as much of the course as possible
- Finish somewhere around 5:20
Having completed several 16- and 18-mile distances during my training, I had no doubt whatsoever that I would be able to cover the entire distance through some combination of running and walking.
Knowing that I could complete the course, barring some sort of freak incident, I wanted to be able to run as long as I possibly could. I was shooting for at least 20 miles, but anything more than 18 would be great.
I acknowledged the fact that I probably couldn't run the entire distance (it's hard to train, sleep, and eat right when you've got a newborn), but I did want to really push myself to run every step of the distance that I could.
The 5:20 finish time was really a stretch goal, but under good running conditions, I felt that I could probably make it.
As I described last time, the forecast for the day was none too favourable. In fact, deplorable would be a little more accurate. I must admit that, although I knew it was going to be bad, I still was pretty unhappy when I woke up in the morning and saw the awful conditions. My resolve never wavered, however, and I eagerly prepared for the race.
Finally, after showering, eating, getting dressed, and dropping Olivia off at the grandparents', Andrea and I were off to the Metro Centre.
The first bit of news we were given once we got there was that the start time was going to be delayed at least an hour - ie, original start time of 9am was pushed back to at least 10am. That wasn't such a big deal to me, but it did mean that Andrea would not be able to see me actually start off (she had to leave to get ready for the christening of her best friends' daughter, who happens to be 3 weeks to the day older than Olivia).
Along with hoping for better weather conditions by waiting the extra hour, we also found out that the delay was a result of the planners trying to figure out how to salvage the race. With the high wind conditions, it was no longer safe to run across the bridge. It was also mentioned that parts of the course in Dartmouth were flooded out.
There was quite a bit of talk of canceling the race. However, the organizers realized that that was not an option - too many people spent too much time training to have the race scrubbed. There was also talk of reducing the full marathon to only a half. I really hoped that they weren't going to do that. I had trained to run the whole distance and if I couldn't do that, I wasn't going to bother at all. After much delay, the organizers were able to get the city to allow the first half of the course to be run twice.
The time for the start finally arrived. Everyone started lining up, getting ready for the starting gun. The first person out of the gate was the lone wheelchair athlete. There was a great amount of cheering and applause when he crossed the start line.
I was surprised by the electricity in the air. I was very excited about getting started, but I was also really nervous. I'm not really sure why, but I do have a habit of getting nervous when doing new things. *shrug*
The full and half marathoners all started at the same time, so there were a lot of runners at the start line. In fact, it took about 5 minutes from the starting gun just to get to the start line. As a result, my "official" time is longer than my actual chip time.
Although the weather was awful, there were a lot of supporters along the track, waving like crazy and cheering everyone on. It was really great. I probably spent too much time/energy acknowledging the cheers, but it was great fun.
The first few miles of the race were pretty painless. There was lots of rain and wind, but I didn't really notice it. Well, not until the course turned around and we were running straight into it. I'm not sure of the wind speeds, but I'd be willing to bet that the winds were at least 40km/h. With the gusts, sometimes it felt that I was running up against a brick wall. It was kind of demoralizing - running as hard as you can and not making any real progress. We had to run into the wind for several miles and I was beginning to wonder if I'd be able to keep it up the first time, let along a second lap. Of course, I was completely soaked by all of the rain by this point and the strong wind made things very, very cold. It was not pleasant by any stretch of the imagination.
Around the 8 or 9 mile mark, I started to wonder if I was going to be able to make it. Luckily the course turned again and we were running with the wind, which gave some reprieve. However, most of the second half of the first lap was uphill. That kind of sucked, but at least I wasn't quite so cold (my hands were literally blue for most of the race).
Finally, I go to the 13-mile mark. I stepped over the line and began the second lap. I was pretty sore and tired at that point and my heart sank a little at the thought of having to do all of that again. The one thing that really kept me going was the goal of trying to run more than 18 miles without stopping.
Running along Barrington street, straight into the wind, for several miles was incredibly difficult the second time around. I pushed and pushed as hard as I could, each step becoming more and more difficult. It was all I could do to make it to PPP. Finally, at the 20-mile mark, I had to stop. I also had to pee like a race horse, so I stopped. It sucked that I had to stop, but at least I managed more than 18 miles without stopping.
From that point on, I would walk for a bit and then run for a bit. I tried very hard to run as much as I could. Of the final 6 miles, I probably walked about half. That disappointed me, but I was just so tired and spent. The wind really took its toll on me.
It was right around the 22-mile mark that I came upon Andrea and Emma, my niece. Andrea had been planning on meeting me in various spots along the course to cheer me on. I've got to tell you, seeing the two of them there, waving signs and hollering at me really spurred me on. It was only about 30 seconds, but it made all of the difference in the world.
As soon as I ran past them, they got back into the car and drove to another spot and waited for me. They did this a couple more times along the remaining miles. When I got within two miles of the end, I told them that they should probably head over to the finish line.
I walked for a little bit until I got to the 2km remaining point. I wanted to finish as strong as I could and I pushed hard to run right to the end. There's a bit of a nasty hill right before the finish line and it was quite a struggle, but my training route ends with a mile-long hill, so I was used to having to work hard to finish. I got to the top of the hill and a volunteer directed me towards the finish line which, thankfully, was downhill.
I ran into the Metro Centre and Andrea, Emma, and her parents (my sister and brother-in-law) were all cheering me on. There was almost no one left, but I didn't care. The sense of accomplishment I felt was almost overwhelming. I felt so good that I almost didn't want to stop running. In fact, a volunteer had to tell me to stop so that she could cut the chip off my shoe. :)
The official time - 5:38:01. Slower than the 5:20 that I was shooting for, but pretty respectable, given the conditions.
I've never been so tired or spent in my whole life, but I'd also never felt so invigorated. I can't even describe how I felt. And pretty much the first words out of my mouth were, "oh yeah, I'm going to do that again." Robin Williams once remarked that while you could certainly spend your time doing cocaine, running a marathon gives the same high and only cost a pair of shoes.
Interestingly enough, some combination of my elation at having finished and the excitement of my family attracted a reporter from the Halifax Herald, who asked me some questions about why I was running, how long I trained for, etc. It'll be in the paper in a couple of days, I suspect.
And so now I plan to take a week or two off to recover and then start thinking about what I'm going to do next. The Valley Harvest marathon in Kentville is in October.
- Mike
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