Running In Place

Written 7/11/05

Mile 6 was flat and I could feel that it was starting to get hotter. I worked on slowing down a little. Having come off the hill, I didn’t want to keep a pace that would spend me before the next, bedeviling incline. There were tons of spectators lining the street - bands, signs, noisemakers, a llama (from the nearby zoo). Running down a gauntlet like that is a mixed thing for me - on one hand, I felt like the queen and wanted to start waving and shaking peoples hands, on the other, I felt kind of self-conscious and awkward. When you walk around daily with the foolish notion that everybody is looking at you, and then you are in a situation where they actually are…it can be kind of disrupting to the psyche.

I passed the halfway mark at 55:something and tried to do some mental calculations but, well, that didn’t work out so I just ran some more. The 6 mile mark was right about where the looooong incline started. From 6 to 7 is the trickster because it’s visually deceptive. You think it’s not that steep, and you think you’ve got it but it just keeps going, and when you think you’re done with it you turn a corner and eat a little more of it! Thankfully, we were still feeling some breeze for part of this hill and I remember stretching my arms out at one point and just wanting to soak up as much moving air as I could. I missed the 6 mile marker so my 6 & 7 split ended up at 23:39.

Now it was crunch time. I had read in the local paper that when you get to the guy on stilts, it’s all downhill (more or less). At this point the crowds are getting thicker and thicker and the road is taking a downturn, and I’m thinking why am I holding back now?? So, I kicked it up, but mostly taking advantage of the subtle but welcome downward slant and crowd energy. At that point I was thinking shit, I’ve got this! I came around the bend, hitting mile 8 at 10:45 and just wanting to keep going like that for that last 1 point 3.

The last mile was weird. Surreal. I came around the corner and all of a sudden it was like everybody, no shit, EVERYBODY around me was walking! I was like, what? do we have a yellow flag?? I can’t emphasize this enough - it wasn’t just a few people in the immediate vicinity that were walking, it was all the people I could see around and in front of me!! I felt like a Kenyan runner! I was rocketing down the road, passing a whole mess of people, and feeling like a total rock star!! I felt strong and I thanked myself for holding back early on. Shortly into that last mile was when the world got really strange though. The whole thing about running into this wall of walking people was encouraging for my ego, but - empathetically speaking - it was kind of dispiriting. I was surrounded by people who were utterly spent - no crowd encouragement, no sprinklers or bands or stilts seemed to be enough to get them moving (or at least till it came time to run across the finish line). That whole psychological vacuum was compounded by several physical casualties on the road side. I passed people sitting on the curb being tended by EMTs, people on stretchers or backboards. We had to make way for 2 ambulances. Let me tell you, this was, for me, unquestionably, the longest of all the miles.

I’ll admit, I was flagging a little with less than a mile to go. I was looking to the finish and feeling as excited as hell but it was but it was tinged by some melancholy that this was ending, and I kind of didn?t want it to. Then I rounded the bend and there was the bagpipe band! I mean, c’mon - how life-affirming is that! So the goosebumps come up and I hit the gas and it’s the last quarter mile or so, and then - there’s my husband and son hootin’ and hollerin’ and the poor man is fumbling with the camera as I give the perfect photo-op wave and smile and he misses it cause he’s trying to cheer and clap too. He’s so silly and I love him. Next thing I know, there’s Molly!! I had lost sight of her for the last couple miles and all of a sudden we were together again! And I was so happy and grateful! We exchanged a few words and a big smile and just poured it on for the last several yards. We crossed the finish line pretty much side by side. I’m not here to speak for Molly, but I think we both felt strong - tired but strong! I don?t know if it could have gone any more how I hoped it would!

After removing our chips and getting our finishing pins, we moved with the crowd towards the party. There were stations along the way with water, orange slices, and popsicles. Evidently the Glaceau Vitamin Water folks weren’t anticipating the back-of-the-packers to be thirsty because they had evacuated their table, leaving only the memories contained in a ‘post-race party’ map chronicling proof of their existence, and the shattered remnants of cardboard pallets and empty cups. It’s ok, I’ve got my own vitamins.

Molly and I shuffled our way to the Family Reunion area to find my boys and her friend. The newspaper had said that this area would be alphabetized so we figured we’d find separate areas for a, b, c,d, you get the idea. Instead, we found a big lawn with 2 signs - one said A-L, the other M-Z, side by side. Attention please: all people with names ending in the letters A through Z, please proceed to the Family Reunion area so that you can easily find your loved ones among this throng of 40,000 people! Thank you. That is all.

Ok, as sarcastic as I would love to be, we actually found the people we were looking for pretty quickly. Beers obtained, we toasted our success, got our pictures taken, and went along to celebrate our day. I spent the afternoon on the porch with my family and best friend while they patiently allowed me to relive my glory several times over.

Although I had said out loud and to myself that I was not worrying about time and just wanted to finish, I will now admit that I was harboring a secret time goal I had resolved that I wouldn?t let it take any joy away from the accomplishment if I didn?t meet it but that, given my druthers, I?d like to have finished in around 1:52 for just a touch over 12:00 min/mile. In the end, my chip time was 1:47:38, averaging to 11:33/mile. So that?s a damn tasty icing on the cake!

A few fast facts:
Runners registered: 10,982
Runners finished: 9,417
Starting line temp: 68F
Finish line temp: 77F
Relative humidity: 68%
People requiring medical treatment: 283 (ranging from dehydration to ice packs to bee stings)
IV Fluid bags used: 240
People transported to the hospital: 14 (10 runners, 4 spectators)
Number of (incredibly awesome) volunteers: 6,000
Number of post-race partiers: around 40,000
Bill Rodgers? finishing time: 1:10:38 (his worst in 20 years of Boilermakers, blamed on hip problems)

Oh and since I didn?t want to bog down the longest blog entry ever with images, here’s where you can see some pictures from the day.