Marine Corps Marathon

And finally after months of fundraising and sporadic training (I'm sorry to say) I am finally here in Washington DC to run the Marine Corps Marathon with Team In Training.  It was a fantastic race.  I felt quite pressured though for several reasons.  Of course I was a little worried that the last 8 races might have taken their toll on me, plus this race did have a time limit.  More than the overall time limit there was an additional time limit of beating the bridge at mile 20 by the 5 hour point.  But we all got quite delayed at the start because of some problem with security that kept all 30,000 runners huddled in a big pile about half a mile from the start line.  When I finally got through that mess it was about 20 minutes after the start.  So I pushed myself with everything I had and was able to get past that bridge in time.  I ran the entire race with no walking except for a couple of hills and to drink at the aid stations.  I was quite tired at the end.  But so happy that I finished.  I was seriously worried that I would not make it.

We ran past all of the famous DC monuments, the White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, etc. Many active marines were there to give us our medals and pass out water and Gatorade along the way. It was really a grand experience.

The inspiration dinner with the team was fun and I enjoyed having the coaches run along with me at times.  Now I need to find my next Team In Training event.  I haven't decided on one yet.  But I do have a run in New Zealand in November, and one in Haiti for January.  I also signed up for another 7 states 7 days with Mainly Marathons for May and Ottawa for May 29th.  I'm sure I will be throwing in a few more before May.

The Medal

White House

Washington Monument

The Team