Marathon Update
I am writing to inform you that I have run a marathon!!!
On Sunday, I completed the 2008 Disney Marathon in Orlando, Florida. My final time for the event was 5:22:56. Yes, that means I ran for almost five and a half hours. By GPS, I ran a total of 26.99 miles.
As you know, when I quit smoking back in March of last year, I set the goal of running a marathon.
However, I set two distinct goals when I joined Team in Training in August, the second one being to run a marathon. My primary goal, was to raise both money and awareness for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. While I did not quite reach my personal goal of $3,000, I did manage to raise more than $2400. Your help in reaching this goal was very important and I am extremely appreciative for the support. Together, the Team in Training program for the 2008 Disney Marathon and Half-Marathon raised more than $5.6 million!
The marathon course included Epcot, the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It also included several miles of highway that were not quite as much fun. Overall, the weather in Orlando was miserable (about 75 degrees with 96% humidity) but the event was a lot of fun. It was certainly a humbling experience and undoubtedly a life-changing one as well.
Nothing could have prepared me for the pain I felt around 20 miles. I’ve heard several motivational speakers in the running community insist that there is no “wall” that runners claim to hit. They’re wrong. I know, because I most certainly hit it. When I made it to the 20-mile marker, I felt like someone had literally dragged me behind a building and beat me. The last six miles were painful enough that at times, I was unsure if I could continue to run. But thanks to my coach pushing me through it, I kept on. My other coach was waiting as I made my way to the front of Epcot, and with the two of them yelling for me every step of the way, I crossed the finish line in front of hundreds of screaming spectators. It felt amazing.
The Disney Marathon is one of the largest Team in Training events in the country. Out of 18,000 registered entrants for the marathon, more than 1900 were fundraising runners from Team in Training. Include coaches, staff and alumni, and we numbered almost 4,000. Much of the course was lined with spectators and probably a third of them were in some way there to support Team in Training. I probably heard between 500 and 600 people yell my name in encouragement as I ran by. I never did figure out how they could see my name printed on my race bib from so far away. Even more emotion-stirring, there were blood cancer survivors along the route holding signs that read things such as “I am alive because of you.” While I was unable to really process this while out on the race course, trying to later describe it to my mother over the phone from the hotel reduced me to tears. It was a truly life-changing experience.
I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy running and plan to stay involved with Team in Training, perhaps as a mentor or even a coach one day. More than anything, I want to help others find the same rewarding feeling that I felt this weekend. I’ve never felt such an extreme sense of accomplishment and I’ve never felt like I’d just been involved in anything so unbelievable.
Finishing the marathon was pretty neat too.
On Sunday, I completed the 2008 Disney Marathon in Orlando, Florida. My final time for the event was 5:22:56. Yes, that means I ran for almost five and a half hours. By GPS, I ran a total of 26.99 miles.
As you know, when I quit smoking back in March of last year, I set the goal of running a marathon.
However, I set two distinct goals when I joined Team in Training in August, the second one being to run a marathon. My primary goal, was to raise both money and awareness for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. While I did not quite reach my personal goal of $3,000, I did manage to raise more than $2400. Your help in reaching this goal was very important and I am extremely appreciative for the support. Together, the Team in Training program for the 2008 Disney Marathon and Half-Marathon raised more than $5.6 million!
The marathon course included Epcot, the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It also included several miles of highway that were not quite as much fun. Overall, the weather in Orlando was miserable (about 75 degrees with 96% humidity) but the event was a lot of fun. It was certainly a humbling experience and undoubtedly a life-changing one as well.
Nothing could have prepared me for the pain I felt around 20 miles. I’ve heard several motivational speakers in the running community insist that there is no “wall” that runners claim to hit. They’re wrong. I know, because I most certainly hit it. When I made it to the 20-mile marker, I felt like someone had literally dragged me behind a building and beat me. The last six miles were painful enough that at times, I was unsure if I could continue to run. But thanks to my coach pushing me through it, I kept on. My other coach was waiting as I made my way to the front of Epcot, and with the two of them yelling for me every step of the way, I crossed the finish line in front of hundreds of screaming spectators. It felt amazing.
The Disney Marathon is one of the largest Team in Training events in the country. Out of 18,000 registered entrants for the marathon, more than 1900 were fundraising runners from Team in Training. Include coaches, staff and alumni, and we numbered almost 4,000. Much of the course was lined with spectators and probably a third of them were in some way there to support Team in Training. I probably heard between 500 and 600 people yell my name in encouragement as I ran by. I never did figure out how they could see my name printed on my race bib from so far away. Even more emotion-stirring, there were blood cancer survivors along the route holding signs that read things such as “I am alive because of you.” While I was unable to really process this while out on the race course, trying to later describe it to my mother over the phone from the hotel reduced me to tears. It was a truly life-changing experience.
I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy running and plan to stay involved with Team in Training, perhaps as a mentor or even a coach one day. More than anything, I want to help others find the same rewarding feeling that I felt this weekend. I’ve never felt such an extreme sense of accomplishment and I’ve never felt like I’d just been involved in anything so unbelievable.
Finishing the marathon was pretty neat too.