We arrived in Beaumont Friday
evening and stayed with Brittany & Jonathan. We drove around for a little
while so I could pick up my race packet. We also had a nice Italian dinner at
NY Pizza and Pasta. I went to bed relatively early on Friday night I woke up at
6 in the morning on Saturday and proceeded to get dressed and eat my bagel +
peanut butter. I dressed in my new olive running shorts with my yellow Baylor
shirt. I attached my bib to my shirt and Eve was kind enough to attach my
racing tag to my shoe. My time starts as I cross the starting line not when the
gun goes off which worked well in my situation.
I
forgot my Gatorade prime so we had to turn around so I could get that. As we
got closer to downtown I suddenly realized they had MLK blocked off for the
race so we had to take back roads to get to Lamar. I was sweating because I
knew it was going to be close. I thought we were almost there using the GPS but
hit a dead end. We got really close to campus before a security guy pointed us
in the right direction. It was so frustrating because I knew Lamar’s campus
pretty well but not when everything was blocked off. We really should have left
at like 6:45 instead of 7. Lesson learned. Anyway, we finally got close to MLK
before a nice police officer screamed at us to turn around because the race was
about to start. I wanted Eve to take my picture before we started but that
wasn’t going to happen. I jumped out of the car and started speed walking
across MLK. I then started running towards the start line. I was about 500 feet
from the start line when I heard it…
Pow!
The pow was the gun going off followed by cheers. I had missed the start! So I
had to run towards the racers before jumping on the curb and weaving in and out
of 5k people waiting around. I ran around cars and barriers back tracking so I
could cross the start so my time would be activated. I rounded the barrier and
jogged across the start line 2 minutes after everyone else had already started.
It was so frustrating and not the way I envisioned starting my first marathon.
I
started in dead last place. In the first 5 minutes I began to catch up with the
other runners and one by one began passing the slower ones. After being
frustrated for the first few miles I began to relax and slow down. I remembered
my time started when I crossed the start line so it didn’t matter that I
started late. My pace relaxed and I picked a good pace with miles 4-8. We ran
through Lamar at first before turning left on MLK and running towards downtown.
They had water stations set up approximately every mile and a few unofficial
water stations scattered along the way. The MLK stretch was unique because for
about 1.5 miles it is all flat and there are no water stations. Secondly, it
was odd running on a highway I’m used to driving on.
While
training in Arlington the weather was a lot cooler, less humid, and with more
hills; with this race it was warmer, flatter, and more humid. There were only a
few hills along the route that we pretty easy to climb because I was used to
running hills along the way. My overall strategy was picking a reasonable pace,
breathing correctly, drinking water at every water station, and eating energy
fuel every 4 miles. This strategy worked throughout the entire first half of
the marathon. At one point I even lost track of my distance and forgot to fuel
up until a mile later.
I
was able to identify what the other runners were running by the color of their
racing bibs. Green bibs were the 5k runners, white bibs were the half marathon
runners, and the yellow bibs were the full marathon runners. I saw mostly half
marathon runners along the way. At various points we would turn around and run
past other runners so I could see how many other people were running the full
marathon.
After
leaving the downtown area and making our way back to Lamar I saw him. I saw the
guy not only running the marathon along with me but he was the guy that was
winning the race. As I ran back towards Lamar at mile 10 he was already leaving
Lamar running towards downtown at mile 16!
Not only was he running a great
time but, he was not alone. He was pushing one of those 3 wheeled strollers
with a little girl. He was running a marathon pushing a stroller and winning!
He was also accompanied by 2 guys on bicycles I’m presuming were there to make
sure we all went the correct way.
As
we ran through Lamar I fueled up again and ran past other marathon runners
leaving for their second loop. As I ran past mile 13 and the start line the
announcer would yell our names out and what we were running. As I ran across he
said: “David Peach from Arlington at the halfway point of his race today.”
I
started my second loop feeling pretty good. I would wave at other half marathon
runners along the way or give them a thumbs up. It was neat for me encouraging
others in reaching their goals. I started mile 16 leaving Lamar and heading
towards downtown feeling good. At this point I switched from energy gels to
energy chews and yet again saw the guy pushing the stroller. At mile 16 he was
at mile 21 and looking strong!
I
think I enjoyed the first half more than the second. The first half I ran with
a lot of other people but the second we were all spread out. I learned only
about 100 people ran the full marathon versus 400 who ran the half. As I made
my way downtown I started to feel worn out. By this point I was at mile 18 and
I relying on water stations and energy chews to keep me going. At one point I
even stopped and used one of the port a potties they had set up. Despite
sweating I still had consumed a ton of water! Eve called to check on me and I
chatted with her for a few minutes. I loaded up on energy gels and water at the
last station downtown before turning left and heading back towards MLK.
By
mile 20 I was hurting. I am firmly convinced you perform in any athletic event
to the extent to which you had trained. The most I had ever run was 20 miles in
training so this was the furthest I had ever run + 6.2 miles! The hill leading
up MLK I started mixing walking with running because I was exhausted by mile
22. I would pick a point to run to follow by 45 seconds of walking then more
running.
The
one weather element I dreaded the most I did in fact face during the race. The
worst element for me was not heat or even rain, it was wind. There was a 20 MPH
wind blowing against me as I ran down MLK towards Lamar. I exerted so much
energy running into the wind whatever energy I had left was used up. My tank
was empty. I knew if I could just make it back to Lamar and out of the direct
wind I could finish this race. So I would run/walk the MLK portion and did make
it back to campus.
By
this point I had been running for 4 hours and I was completely spent. I would
jog a little then walk then jog some more. At mile 24 I didn’t know how much I
had left in me. Every time I walk I would think: “I know I can walk the rest
and finish but I don’t know if I could run another step.” But, after walking I
would be able to rest my legs enough to run for another couple minutes.
By
mile 25 I was feeling nauseous so I didn’t even eat all my energy gels. I would
pass other guys running the race too and they looked as bad as I felt! At mile
26 I started running again to finish. Eve called me to check on me as I rounded
the final corner. She encouraged me as other strangers along the finish line
did as I ran across! I had done it. I had actually finished my first marathon!
My
picture was taken as I finished and I was given my finishers’ medal. I saw down
on some steps and drank some more water as I started to recover. My final time
was 4 hours 39 minutes and 1 second. My splits were as follows:
Mile 1: 9:06
Mile 2: 9:21
Mile 3: 9:34
Mile 4: 9:29
Mile 5: 9:50
Mile 6: 9:38
Mile 7: 9:40
Mile 8: 9:32
Mile 9: 9:42
Mile 10: 10:07
Mile 11: 9:57
Mile 12: 9:54
Mile 13: 10:05
Mile 14: 9:59
Mile 15: 9:48
Mile 16: 9:42
Mile 17: 10:01
Mile 18: 9:36
Mile 19: 10:08
Mile 20: 10:23
Mile 21: 11:05
Mile 22: 10:57
Mile 23: 10:48
Mile 24: 11:42
Mile 25: 12:11
Mile 26.2: 11:55
Just for grins my average pace per
mile was 10:15 and I burned 2,776 calories!
I'm thrilled to have accomplished this. Thank you everyone for all your support.
