I guess I haven't been paying attention. I never reported on my first marathon. Grandma's went as good as could be. We got there the day before the race. Had lunch, waited for friends to meet us at the hotel and then headed to the expo to get the race packet. After parking, we "milled" around the expo, bought a new tank top and got my race number. The tank was going to be the best purchase I made in recent history. We ate the spaghetti dinner and made our way back to the hotel. The friends that met us there decided to go for a drink and my wife decided to go with them. My daughter fell asleep and I did shortly after. I set the alarm for 4:30AM.
The alarm went off, I got up, showered, and headed to the lobby for breakfast. Several banana's and a bowl of oatmeal later and I was ready to go. I went back to the room, got my drop bag, and hopped on the bus. I had a nice talk with a guy from Coon Rapids who had run several times and I got some good advice.
I dropped off my drop bag and got in line for the port o pot. After that, I stretched for the next 10-15 minutes and made my way to the start line. I lined up with the 4 hr finish time people. They sang the national anthem, some jets flew by, and we were off. I of course had to pee again right away, so I stopped at the first port o pot I found at mile 1. The next few miles I ran and talked with a guy from Ely who run's Ultra's. Interesting discussion and one heck of a nice guy. He finished the Zubro 100 in 27 hours, Amazing! I chatted a little with other people along the way and realized that it was hot! Hotter than expected. Glad I had on the tank and not the short sleeve tech shirt I brought. I watched my times on the Garmin and knew that I wasn't going to reach my goal of 4hrs. Oh well, it was only one of the goals I set for the day. The other was to have fun and finish.
I kept a decent pace and was taking in a lot of fluids, which was good. The weather was hot and reached close to 90 degrees. I got to town with 6 miles to go. The mood was festive and people were spraying garden hoses, handing out beers, and the music was pumping. I took in a homemade slip N slide at a frat house and was then offered a beer bong, which I politely declined.
I pushed as hard as I could between aid stations and finished in 4hrs 27 min. I saw my wife and daughter about .2 miles from the finish and I smiled as I ran by. I got my medal, a sandwich, and headed to the lake. I sat in the water and thought about my adventure. I couldn't believe I did it and went to share my accomplishment with my family.
