Frederick Report -- Part III

(ORIGINALLY POSTED 5/5/08)

. . . 26.2 miles to go.

Starting from the back of the pack, it took just 3 minutes to cross the starting line. We headed out of the fairgrounds and onto the streets of downtown Frederick. The adrenalin pumping, I used the pacer function of my Garmin for the first time. It would beep at me if I went faster than 11:15/mile or slower than 13:15. Through the first few miles, I was beeped at regularly, but had no trouble slowing my pace back to the 12 minute average I was looking to keep. I stayed pretty close to Laura and Terry and once the crowds thinned, we were all moving at the same pace.

Several months ago, I had sent a letter to Angie, a friend from Jaycees who I hadn't seen in a while, but lived in Frederick. Angie wrote me and was a big fan of TNT. She had run the Dublin Marathon a few years ago. Every year she hangs out with friends at mile 3. "Look for me there!" At mile 3, there was my first "visitor". I screamed out "Angie" and ran off to giver her a big sweaty kiss. "I'll see you at the finish, but you better get running." I was back on the course.

I was enjoying this run more than just about anything. We were running through beautiful older Frederick neighborhoods. Very quaint. I was very chatty, yelling out to all kinds of people and chatting with Terry and Laura. "Hey! Can I get cream and two sugars in my coffee?" I yelled out to one group of folks. We passed a big group with a picnic table set up. "Hey! Can I have one of those?" referring to the drink in their hands. "It's a bloody mary!" they told me. "I'll take two then!" It was a blast.

At about mile 5, the first of the TNT mentors showed up. "How are you doing? Do you need anything?" Nope. Just fine.

Through 5, I had about 3 minutes in the bank on my pace goal. Good to go!

At about mile 8, Laura and Terry needed a bathroom break. "Keep going Jeff, you're doing great!" Laura said. I was off on my own. Through 10, my pace was still solid. About 4 minutes in the bank. Mile 10 was my fastest of the front half.

Frederick County is very rural. The town is fairly small. At mile 11 I noted my first cow. Very surprised that it took this long, but alas, there they were. Shortly after that, coach Karen checked in and ran a bit with me. All's well. See you down the road.

Just before the 13 mile mark, I saw Laura's husband Andy with their kid. He was yelling out for me. It was great to see a familiar face with the tough part to come.

At the half, I had run non-stop (other than the water breaks). I took a bathroom stop during mile 13. Without that stop, I would have had a PR for a half. With the sun now out in full glare, the temps warming and my sunglasses sitting snugly in my checked bag, expecting the weatherman would deliver on the "mostly cloudy" forecast, the "easy" part was over.

Past 13, things got lonely. 2/3 of the runners at the start were doing just the half and this included the vast majority of the TNT folks. At 13.5, there was Angie again. What a pleasant surprise! It felt almost like a mirage in the desert. But real! "Your folks are around the corner -- I'll see you at the finish!"

My folks were waiting along the canal. It was great to see them there and I got to run past them twice -- out and back. They had TNT signs in their hands cheering for me. I told them I was feeling fine and I'd see them in about 3 hours.

At 15, Garmie had me right on the money at exactly 3 hours. I knew that I wouldn't be on that pace much longer as I started to take more walk breaks.

Shortly after 15, as I'm about to run under I-70, I hear yelling from a vehicle -- "DADDY DADDY!" Amazingly, purely by coincidence, there were Deb and the boys driving by en route to the fairgrounds. What a great distraction. It was great to see them there.

At 15.5, there was Mohan awaiting my arrival. "How to you feel?" Good -- fun part to come. A mile later there it was -- a long constant hill. We're not talking about miles, but I figured it was close to a mile -- probably an 8-10% grade. We walked. And walked. We ran some, but mostly talked and tried to keep a good pace walking. At the top, we ran downhill, but more fun was ahead.

As we turned off the main road, we headed left into a neighborhood into a monster steep hill. Just a quarter or third of a mile, but certainly 13-15%. We walked. Mohan still at my side.

We were now in a very nice, upscale neighborhood. The neighbors were great -- kids outside handing out pretzels, Gatorade, water, other snacks from their front lawns. Pretty impressive -- we were at the tail end of over three hours of runners coming through their neighborhood and they were still hanging in. We hung in, too.

A man caught up with us, Victor from Virginia, who was also running his first marathon. He was concerned about finishing in the time limit. Mohan said to hang with us, he'd finish in time for sure. It was nice to have a crowd.

Along the way, there were more TNTers. Turns out there were several still behind us. Would they finish? Don't know, but we were still moving forward.

If there was a "wall" for me, I'd say it hit at mile 23. I was ready to be done. Then, as we got out of the neighborhoods and headed back to the fairgrounds, but not before a cruel twist in the course. Just two blocks from the finish line, the course turned east, then loops back and the parallel to the fairgrounds, a mile through a desolate business park. Seemed pretty unfair. Nobody anywhere. I was really laboring. Mohan kept moving.

We passed 25 and I though I could run it in. My legs disagreed. After a tenth of a mile or so, I walked. At 25.5, Michael, the TNT Director jogged towards us and joined us toward the finish. At 26, there was another mirage -- it was Deb, out to search for me. It was amazing and, thankfully, not a mirage. I smiled and then turned right into the fairgrounds. Finally the finish line in sight.

Now, I started to sprint. The clock read 5:55 and I was determined to run across the finish line. And so I did.

After 5 hours, 52 minutes, 32 seconds of running and walking, I had earned the right to put that coveted "26.2" sticker on the back bumper of my car.

The emotion of the moment was expected. I just didn't know how it would play out. I started to get choked up in the last tenth of a mile. After I finished, my dad was at the barrier. I hugged him and all of the built up emotion just poured out. There was Angie, my sister-in-law Sherri, and my niece an nephew. We all hugged. My kids? Oh, they picked that moment to need a potty break. Of course, my mom went along with them. They all missed what they came to see.

Moments later, Deb arrived back and another wave of emotion let go. Kids and mom arriving shortly after.

Wow.

It was a glorious, fantastic and amazing day. I am not the guy that was supposed to complete a marathon. But I did. It's still hasn't quite sunk in, but I'm looking forward to going out to my car tomorrow morning and see that 26.2 on the bumper. I've earned it.

There's more to say, but it can wait another day. Thanks for hanging in through the gory details.

Stay tuned. . .

L'Chaim!