2006 Detroit Marathon
Well, the day I was waiting for finally came. After 13 weeks of training and countless miles, I was as ready as I would ever be. The race started at 7:15 am at the Washington and Wooward cooridor. We quickly made our way through corktown and already within the first mile people were going off to the side of the road to go to the bathroom. I found this rather humorous. From there, we made our way over the ambassador bridge and through Windsor. At this point, around mile 6, I knew I also had to go to the bathroom and if I kept waiting it would only get worse. So I wasted about 5 minutes or more dealing with that. I completly lost my 4 hour pace group, but used the rest to quicken my pace a bit. I soon caught up with them and even passed them around the half-marathon mark. Miles 10-20 were my best miles and I would calculate I was at just slighly over a 9 min/mile pace. Miles 18-20 were rough as we rounded Belle Isle and battled cold winds coming off the Detroit River. Coming up the Belle Isle bridge we turned through Indian Village for the last 5 miles. This is were fatigue started to set in. I saw Sue finishing the last leg of the relay around mile 22 and we ran for about a mile before I began to fade away. The last three miles were an embarrassing combination of walking, running and hobling, before I finally saw Ford Field in my sights. From there, the pain and heavy feeling in my legs were erased by pure andrenaline. Only a 1/10 of a mile to go, across the 50 yard line, and cheers from adoring fans, friends, family and spectators. It was a good feeling to be done. Except we had to walk up the stairs of Ford Field to get out.
Final time: 4:16:38, or roughly a 9:45/mile pace. My underwater time was 9:01. And my halfway time was 2:10:11. Out of 10,711 fans, I placed 1,988. Overall, it was a big achievement I should be proud of, but deep down I know I could have done a bit better. Perhaps more training, a few more miles, or even that bathroom break may have kept me from my 4 hour time goal. Regardless, it is an athletic event few have acomplished, although you would never know it with 10,000 plus runners and another 10,000 plus spectators. I have huge respect for anyone who does a marathon, because no matter who you are there is nothing easy about it. Will I do another marathon? Don't ask me now...I am still hobbling.
Final time: 4:16:38, or roughly a 9:45/mile pace. My underwater time was 9:01. And my halfway time was 2:10:11. Out of 10,711 fans, I placed 1,988. Overall, it was a big achievement I should be proud of, but deep down I know I could have done a bit better. Perhaps more training, a few more miles, or even that bathroom break may have kept me from my 4 hour time goal. Regardless, it is an athletic event few have acomplished, although you would never know it with 10,000 plus runners and another 10,000 plus spectators. I have huge respect for anyone who does a marathon, because no matter who you are there is nothing easy about it. Will I do another marathon? Don't ask me now...I am still hobbling.