Race Reports

The idea for a spring marathon was hatched Christmas night when my 23 year old daughter asked me to run a marathon with her.  Having just run one the previous month, I wasn’t eager to get back into full training again, but I figured it was just the eggnog talking, so I agreed.  Turns out she really meant it.  Kaitlyn had been a cheerleader in high school and college, so she ran mainly for fitness.  She had a lot of training to do to get ready for a marathon, or so I thought.  The farthest she had run was two half marathons, the most recent being PF Chang two years ago when she had to wrap her pants around her head.  But that’s another story….

Heidi agreed to run the race too, so she and I teamed up again for our training.  It felt great to branch off from the Shelley Lake loop and greenway and pound some new turf.  We had some great training runs, including the “steeplechase” course out in Morrisville (oops, another story again).

We first set our sights on a new marathon in Greensboro, but we weren’t too crazy about the idea of a really hilly course.  Then Heidi “discovered” the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon one week earlier and we decided that would be our race.  A couple of weeks before the race I went out to buy “marathon presents” for Kaitlyn and Heidi.  I went to Things Remembered and found a great Horse Shoe key chain (perfect for a Derby race).  The sales clerk was all excited when I told her what it was for.  When I mentioned we had run a marathon together last year she asked me how I’d placed.  I tried hard to keep the smile plastered on my face as I explained that there had been Ten-Thousand-Runners-in-the-race-and-no-I-didn’t-win-but-I-was-pleased-with-how-I-had-done.  She patted my hand and responded sympathetically with “As long as YOU feel good about it, I guess that’s all that matters.”

It was very cool being in Louisville.  I am a huge horse lover and I actually own a horse who used to race in Kentucky.  The day of the race dawned… rainy.  What is it with the rain?  Almost every race (marathon or half) I’ve run started out gray and rainy.  And usually cold and windy as well.  (Exception was Virginia Beach – hot and steamy.)  We got a bit of a late start and were in fact still at the port-o-potties when the race actually began.  Not a problem because chip time is chip time, BUT we started out at the end of the pack.  A huge pack - of mainly walkers.  Walkers ambling in the middle of the pack.  Eight abreast.  With no conception of the runners who didn’t want to walk but couldn’t get around them.  Will somebody please explain race etiquette to those folks who do this?  I may take out a bill board at my next race location to convey this.  Or maybe just get to the start on time so I’m not behind them all.

The beginning of the race circled Iroquois Park – a six mile loop.  We’d been running about an hour when we looked up and… oh s--t!  We were back at the starting banner.  That was a bit disconcerting.  However then we headed to Churchill Downs.  This was my favorite part.  I’d never been there and I was overwhelmed by the track, the horses, and the whole experience.  I almost had to let out a little whinny of my own.

The course then turned to the streets of Louisville.  I was purposely running a slow pace (11 min mile overall average) to save us for the distance, so we were quite comfortable.   However, for a “flat” course there sure seemed to be a lot of hills.  We bonded with spectators who promised us that the hills were now all behind us… only to find out their definition of hills must be off.  (This is the same breed of folks who tell you near the end of race “only three more blocks”, when in reality… well you know.)

The first half of the race we ran side by side with those running the half marathon (we arrogantly termed these folks the “Half-Nots” ).  It was hard not to get swept up with those who had a shorter distance to run.  In addition we were vastly outnumbered – only 10% of the pack was running the full marathon.  I saw some great shirts:  “If you can read this, then I’m not last” and “Slow is the new Fast”.

Heidi and I were feeling pretty good for most of the race.  We’d been congratulating ourselves at each milestone and telling each other what rock stars we were.  Conversation got a bit sketchy at about Mile 20 however.  At Mile 22 just as we were really beginning to feel the distance, we were faced with… The Bridge.  This bridge takes you UP and over (note emphasis on the word UP) the Ohio River into Indiana.  Then you run a little cloverleaf pattern and return back UP and over the bridge back to Kentucky.   Heidi and I parted ways at the bridge, each struggling to the end in our own manner.   After the bridge there was another 1.5 miles to the finish.  I was beat.  My goal time was 5 hours and I kept telling myself that I would be mad if I missed it by just a couple of minutes because I didn’t push it quite hard enough.  With the finish line in sight I went hard… and finished at 5 hours and 5 SECONDS.  Oh well, it’s my time and I’m proud of it.

Now flash over to my daughter…  Kaitlyn had been a little worried about taking on a full marathon given her training base.  She is a medical student with not much time to run.  I think her “long runs” were a couple of 13 miles runs and one 16 miler.  We agreed that if I should come upon her on the course and find her in critical condition, I would hold back with her and come in last so she wouldn’t have to.  Of course this feeds right into my fantasy as the Good Mother.  In reality, what happened was she finished almost a full hour ahead of me.  She was looking as fresh as a daisy and full of beer when I finally staggered across the finish.

Our haul that we earned from the race was two cool t-shirts and a great medal.  We showered off the salt, took quick naps, headed out for cheeseburgers and attended the 4^th Street Live Festival.  All in all a good race that I would highly recommend to others.