Columbus Marathon 2012 Race Report - Part 2

If you missed it, you can find Part 1 here.

I left you with not being able to sleep through the night before the big day.

Sunday October 21, 2012
The alarm went off at 5AM. The clock/radio thing at the hotel was actually an iPod doc, which was way cool. You could set the alarm to either buzzer, radio or iPod! I set the alarm to go off at 5AM to Adele's Rolling in the Deep. This song became our "race song" when we heard it on the way to the Cleveland Half Marathon in May 2011. It was kind of cool waking up to it, knowing that I would be completing my first marathon later that day!

We all got up pretty easily. Nobody wanted to eat, but we all choked down our small breakfasts of granola bars (the girls) or trail mix (me). Funny. For a girl who ALWAYS wants to eat - it just takes getting ready for a marathon at 5AM to not want to eat at all! We all got dressed and ready to go (this included getting lubed up with body glide and Vaseline in all the appropriate places to prevent chafing during a nice 26.2 mile jaunt). Pictures were taken in the hotel room and then we gathered all our stuff to check out. We could have gotten late check out, but the "complimentary late check out" was only until 1 and I knew I would still be running then! Adrienne and SIL put their bags in the car and I checked mine at the front desk since I'd be going home with my family. Check out was a breeze - nobody was in line. Guess most people probably opted for late check out.

And that's only HALF of the people since the other half were around the corner

We had to be in the corrals by 7AM for the 7:30 AM start. A little excessive?? I think so. On the way into the corrals we had probably 3 photographers take our picture (if/when I purchase them I'm sure I'll post them). That was kind of fun and some of them actually came out pretty good! Then, we made it ALL the way back to our corral F (the last one). In this sea of 18,000 people I had to try to spot Sarah, who I hadn't seen in over 11 years! Amazingly enough I FOUND her and we chatted with SIL and Adrienne while we waited for the start.

I didn't mention anything about the "Patient Champions" in this post. But, each mile was dedicated to a child from the Children's hospital. This was Parker's Lego Mile. It was in the 'Shoe and they asked runners to put a Lego piece on this board. I'm sure lots of people couldn't be bothered,  but I LOVED every minute of it!

The way they have the set up at the start line in Columbus is a little different. The corrals make a sharp turn at corral D. So you have ABC, then turn and DEF. As a result, those of us back in F could not hear anything that was happening at the start line. All of the sudden a loud BOOM rocks every one of the 18,000 runners waiting to start. But, then the line still wasn't moving. Eventually there would be 2 more booms and we were off!

Thanks for the warning!



If you're not familiar with big races, it takes about 20-30 minutes for the people in the back to actually reach the start line! That's why it's so nice they have the "chip timing" because if my time were based on when the "gun" went off, I'd appear EVEN slower (if that's possible)! So, about 21 minutes later, I was crossing the start line and off to tackle 26.2 miles.

Sarah and I immediately started chatting and catching up on the last 11+ years. I can't express how awesome it was to have her by my side for that first part of the race. She did most of the talking, but I held my own! :) She helped me up the inclines and kept me moving at a good pace. Before I knew it, I was giving her a hug and saying goodbye.

Columbus claims to do this "second start line" for the full marathoners at mile 13. What it does and makes it that much more painfully obvious that hardly any people keep going for the full (especially when having taken almost 3 hours to do the half). All of the sudden I felt completely alone. But then I heard someone yell Kim and I looked and screamed! It was Megan! She wasn't supposed to meet me until mile 19. I got overly excited, but she said she was just saying hi and would meet me at 19. I was doing great at that point so I said GREAT!

And there's the steep hill....entering the 'Shoe!

And then the LONG trek between miles 13 and 19 began. The next 3ish miles were straight UP High Street (in more ways that one). In some ways it was THE most boring part of the race; but in others I was interested at looking all around to see what I remembered from grad school. Turns out...not much! I did remember my friend's apartment building when I passed that!

So COOL! As you can see, most of the pictures I took were in the 'Shoe, so that's what you've got!

It was at some point between 16 and 17 that I first started to struggle. My stomach started revolting. I took some extra walk breaks. But, in all of this, I never got upset. I didn't cry. I was concerned about my stomach since it was very similar to the stomach pains I get with my Crohn's. I was focusing on finding a porta potty and deciding if I really needed it. I can't remember in which sequence this happened, but at some point during this time I saw SIL and Adrienne coming in the opposite direction! It was excited and we all gave high 5's. I was still focused on my stomach though. Then (or perhaps before), I saw a mile marker that had an 18 on it. I got all excited because I swear I couldn't remember the 17. I was totally confused. I looked at my Garmin and that said 16.94 (or something like that) so I was even MORE confused. And, then, I saw it....the mile 17 marker just ahead. Ugh. That 18 mile marker was on the opposite side of the road. That was a little defeating, but I knew I was about to go into the 'Shoe so I was excited! (That's the Ohio Stadium where the Buckeyes play if you're not aware).

I took my phone out to take pictures through the 'Shoe. The nice thing about being slow is that I really didn't care about taking the time to take pictures. I was taking EVERY minute in during this entire race! I was able to ignore my stomach by being distracted in the 'Shoe. Then, I was finally at the actual 18 mile mark and knew I only had 1 more mile before I met Megan. I was struggling, but still moving and still doing most of my intervals. I was probably walking a little more than scheduled, but I can't really remember.

I met up with Megan and things almost immediately went downhill. What's interesting though, is that for as difficult as it got, my MOOD never altered. I struggled. I wanted to be done. I was in serious pain. I physically couldn't run anymore at one point. But; I WAS SMILING! I was loving every. single. minute. of this experience. I knew that I was going to finish 26.2 miles and that was all I cared about. I knew I had completed the first half fast enough (thanks Sarah) to finish in under 7 hours even if I walked the rest of the way (which I wasn't planning on doing). I even knew that as long as I could keep pushing, I could finish in under 6:30.

I must have started clapping when I saw my family! I love my mom's hand in the corner of the pic.

I think I was somewhere after mile 25, and all of the sudden the 6:30 pacer team (walkers) came up behind me! It was just what I needed to get my butt moving. But, it didn't last very long. It literally hurt too much to run. I decided that since I was SO close it didn't really matter if I let them pass me. Finishing at 6:35 was still finishing 26.2. Turns out those ladies weren't great pacers because they did finish before me (my mom said probably 10 minutes before me); and since my OFFICIAL finish time was 6:28:55, I finished in under 6:30! :)

And that captures it right there. Thanks Dad!

Anyway, that last 1.5 miles were the LONGEST in my life. I have no idea how long they took me, but it felt like forever. Every time I tried to run I couldn't so I tried to walk fast. That didn't really work either. They have a flag with 1/2 mile on it...and that was terrible. I passed that flag and felt like I should be seeing the 26 flag...and I wasn't...and it sucked. But then. I saw it. And I couldn't believe it. I was almost done. I reached the flag and gave Megan the biggest hug ever. I turned the corner, felt the downhill under my feet and started running. I felt like I was FLYING. In that moment nothing hurt. I wasn't tired. I could breathe. IT. WAS. AWESOME!!! I looked to my left and saw Heather, SIL and Adrienne (and other people, but those were the only ones I noticed). But, I was distracted because at the same time, I saw that my husband, kids and parents were to my right. I worked my way over to my family and gave them all high 5's...but I was on a mission. I saw the clock. I saw that if I could cross that line in the next few SECONDS, I would meet my goal. I ran with everything I had left. I crossed that finish line and the clock said 6:49:xx. I was CONFIDENT I finished in under 6:30 (and, obviously, later found out I was right).

OMG..I just PASSED 2 people at the end...let's not even discuss the fact that they're wearing winter coats while running/walking a marathon!

I got my medal; my space blanket; my picture taken; and I went to the food area. I grabbed my chocolate milk and food and started walking to get to my family.

It was a day I will NEVER forget. I have never been more proud or amazed at myself.

For thinking I didn't have much to say about the day, I certainly found my words! ;)

And, as you can imagine. I have SO much more to say after a few days of reflecting. But that will come in another post!