A Passion for Running

Holy Smokes! After the responses I got back from yesterday’s weather related post I’m feeling pretty lucky to be dealing with the temperatures we have in Edmonton!

You runners in the U.S. and especially in the south truly have my respect. Temperatures over 80 degrees just seem so horrible to me!!

All this talk about the heat makes me think this might be a good time to tell the story of my second marathon…

…the heat on that day was the worst I’ve ever experienced while running. It took place on June 22, 2002 (on my 35th birthday!) in Edmonton. The official temperature was 90 degrees Fahrenheit but the start announcer cautioned us it was actually 102 degrees off the pavement (which is of course what we were running on!) plus the whole damn thing was in direct sunlight with not a smidge of shade.

What made it worse was we’d had an exceptionally cold spring and it was only the week of the marathon when the temperature rocketed so we had absolutely no conditioning for running in even moderate heat!

I will never forget that day. Every step was utterly hellish but so amazingly worth it.

I remember the first few kilometers so clearly. I was DYING out there and Aaron was pushing the pace. It was the first marathon we’d trained alone together for so I really wanted to keep up but the heat was just killing me and all I could think was, “if I gave chase, I won’t finish”.

Aaron was at least 100 feet ahead of me me when suddenly he looked back, stopped and waited. Once I caught up he said, “buddy, I can’t do this alone” to which I responded, “I want to do this with you but I just can’t maintain the pace you are setting”.

So, (God bless him!) he slowed down and we ran every remaining step of that grueling race together.

The water stations in the first half of the marathon were very panicky – everyone was gulping down as much aqua as they could get their hands on and throwing the rest over their heads. We went past countless homes who mercifully hosed us down as we ran by. I bet I soaked myself a hundred times in an effort to keep cool.

At 20km, I remember seeing the halfers turning off and heading for home and realized I still had over two hours of running to do in the unbearable heat. A part of me thought about joining them so it could be over but a bigger part said, “okay, now it’s a marathon” and I kept going.

The miles wore on and the line of runners got thinner and thinner. It got very lonely and even hotter as we crossed the North Saskatchewan River and then we climbed two miles worth of hills. Aaron and I were quiet for several kilometers – we were too focused on surviving to care about talking.

The turning point came after we got back on the flat around 28km. We passed some enthusiastic spectators who provided encouraging words (I have no idea what they said!). It felt like we’d been out there forever so a line from Shrek popped into my head and I said, “Thanks for coming – we’re here till Thursday” and Aaron chimed in with “Try the veal”! The spectators laughed. We laughed. We had found our sense of humour and it was at that moment when I knew I’d be ok and would finish the race. I even started telling people it was my birthday just so I could get extra support. It probably drove Aaron crazy but I didn’t care!

We passed 32km (the wall) and kept going each step getting harder and harder than the last. We stopped letting people soak us because we were feeling sicker with each successive drenching. I think going from hot to cold over and over was not good for our health.

From 34 to about 40km, we walked as much as we ran – alternating between one minute of running and one minute of walking. Good friend Barry appeared right about then and cheered us on from the sidelines saying “you guys look great!” (ya, right Barry!).

Then Aaron challenged me and said there was no way we’d be walking in and that we were not going to come in later than 4:30. I can’t remember what I said to him (something like “I don’t care”) but he wouldn’t hear it and said something to get my ass in gear which I did. We ran strongly in the last two kilometers and finished in 4:28 so Aaron got his “under 4:30″ wish. It’s amazing what you will settle for on a day like that. On average, it was said most people finished 30 to 60 minutes slower than their goal. We were no exception having planned on finishing in 3:45.

So much good came out of that day…

-We finished 213th and 214th out of about 650 finishers (so top 1/3). But 400 people did not finish. In other words, we ROCKED just by crossing that finishing line.

-Aaron and I were like two victorious warriors crossing that finish line. Training together and running that marathon truly cemented our friendship.

-I found inner strength I never knew I had. Sure, my first marathon was tough – very tough but THIS one was my worst nightmare and I had conquered. From that point on, I’ve had the confidence of knowing I will always finish. That confidence has spilled into the rest of my life. I know I can get through anything…

…and so can YOU!

This was us…