Day 167 - The Marathon

The Start Line
I got to my Dad's place at 6:15am and after getting a few pictures taken we all (my dad, sister, aunt and uncle) piled into my dad's car and headed to Square One. The original parking spot I had chosen was full so my dad dropped my sister and I off to find the start line. Although the rain was holding off there was a cold wind blowing, so I decided to put on a t-shirt underneath my long sleeve shirt.

We found Nick walking along the start line chute and soon my dad, aunt and uncle joined us. Several pictures were taken (usually I'm the one who's always taking pictures) and I figured out where along the starting chute I should line up. I was ecstatic to see a 3:15 pace bunny - this meant I could concentrate on following the pace bunny and not worry about my splits every kilometre. 3:15 was aggressive, but I was going to put it all out there.

As I lined up the Culina family arrived. Branko, Lisa and their two boys (my godsons) Cole and Conor. The national anthem was played and then the mass of runners moved up to the start line. It was a combination of both marathon and half-marathon runners so there were a lot of people. 1,093 for the full and 3,420 for the half for a total of 4,523.

The VERY loud gun sounded and we walked to the start line - there were so many people that it took runners at the back of the line over 5 minutes before they reached the start. So important to figure out where you need to be otherwise you're either slowing down people behind you or being slowed down by people ahead of you over the first few kilometres. I had chosen the right place - I didn't have that problem.

Kilometre 0-24
The first few kilometres were interesting. Trying not to think that there was 40 more kilometres to go or that I had spent 6 months training for this race and it was going to be done in about three and a half hours. Then I was trying not to think that I had three and a half hours to go.

The 3:15 pace bunny was great. He let us know when we were coming up to different aid stations and let us know which side of the street it would be on. He gave some words of encouragement every once in a while and even chatted with people who wanted to chat. The chatting was early on in the race. I got a lot of energy from him and tried to stay as close as possible.

It was a large group and that caused some problems at Gatorade/water stations. My plan was to have Gatorade (even if it was a sip) at every station to stay hydrated throughout. This meant I had to work myself to one side of the road which was tough to do with such a tight group.

At one station there wasn't enough volunteers to hand out Gatorade. The runner ahead of me grabbed a Gatorade from one volunteer - I thought I was still good because there was one Gatorade left at the end of the station - but the same runner took another cup! I missed out on Gatorade and settled for water.

At another station I almost missed out again, because the runner ahead of me couldn't grab the Gatorade. His misjudged the first one and Gatorade exploded all over him and the volunteer. He tried it again, and missed again - another Gatorade explosion. He finally managed to grab a cup and luckily there was one more volunteer left so that I got one as well.

One member of the group had a horrible hacking cough about 10km into the race. Apparently he took some gels the wrong way. He was hacking for several kilometres prompting the pace bunny and others to ask if he was okay.

I was worried in the first few kilometres that I had made a mistake by adding the extra shirt. I was very warm. However, we got to a downhill in the course and I was glad I had it. The wind was cold and blowing hard.

About 15km in I was a bit worried that the injury on my foot might cause a problem. I was starting to feel it again. It lasted about a kilometre before the sensation went away. I also became aware of the pounding the pavement was giving my feet. I knew then I was going to be sore by the finish line.

Kilometre 25-42.2
At kilometre 24 things were going fantastic. I had passed the half way point, was sticking close to the 3:15 pace bunny and felt great. At that point someone said something to the pace bunny but I only heard his response: "We'll see how it is when we head into the wind."

About a minute later at kilometre 25 we turned into the wind and I knew I was in trouble. At this point I was still able to stay close to the pace bunny, but I wasn't sure how long it was going to last. I was also having trouble navigating the turns - I would lose time and the 3:15 group would move ahead. I would catch up, but then there would be another curve in the course. I started to fall behind.

I was trying to wave to Cole and Conor in this pic.

At kilometre 27 the distance started to grow. It was also at kilometre 27 that Branko, Lisa, Cole, Conor, Nick and Chris (who had joined the group) lined the course to cheer me on. I gave a wave to Cole and Conor and kept moving. Apparently they had driven to another part of the course but had just missed me - something to do with Chris' oatmeal order at a breakfast place.

I also ran past Steve who was with Joey and a video camera. He was around a bend so I didn't see him coming and was surprised to hear my name. Obviously I couldn't stop to say "hi" so I was gone in a flash.

As I kept running the struggle to keep a consistent pace was becoming more difficult. At 31km I has surpassed my longest ever run and I started counting down the number of kilometres before the end of the race. I imagined the race ending at 40km and that helped pass the time. I was on my own at this point so the pick up of Gatorade was now a lot easier. I was become pretty good at it and I think the volunteers appreciated it. (One of them said good job and it didn't seem like he was referring to my running.)

Consuming the gels was interesting. I had them all over my hands (very sticky hands) by the end. It did seem to help - I'm not sure how I could have gotten through the full race without them. I also didn't want to litter, so I kept them until we reached an aid station - which added to the hand stickiness.

My pace was a bit erratic and as we ran along the lake the wind picked up and there seemed to be too many hills to navigate. Finally I didn't have to lie to myself anymore, I was close enough to start counting down the kilometres to 42. The final two kilometres was a huge struggle. I had managed to keep my pace to the low 5s (compared to 4:37 for the first 27km) but now I was moving closer to the 6 minute mark. I wouldn't have been able to last much longer.

The Finish Line
I didn't speed up in that final kilometre. It wasn't going to happen. But I kept it as even a pace as I could. I could hear some of my crew cheering me on as I reached the finish line and I heard the announcer call out my name (mis-pronouncing Robey) as I crossed. I kept running for a few more seconds - I was a bit confused as to where the finish line actually was.

I started walking, got them to cut off my chip (tied to my shoe), accepted my medal (as I would say to my aunt when she saw it - everyone gets a medal) - and kept walking. My family popped up along the finish chute and I gave them all hugs - but I didn't say much. My legs started to seize up almost immediately. I was in pain and walking very, very slowly for about 20 minutes. I managed not to swear.

My sister was great - she was grabbing my post-race drinks, getting my clothes - making sure that I wasn't going to collapse. Lisa told me later that my sister had googled "how people feel after marathons" prior to race day - something I never thought to do. We continued walking, my dad at my side towards the end of the chute where we ran into the rest of the crew. There were a lot more pictures and a lot of walking until finally I was ready to head towards the shuttle bus. Oh - and my aunt didn't cry (which she had threatened to do).

I got my chip time later on while were heading home. 3 hours, 22 minutes, 19 seconds.