Houston Marathon - RunMarathon

Being in the back corral I knew it would take me a while to get to the front. I knew it was pointless to try and jog to the line with everyone else. With 17,000 runners it wasn't going to make a difference. After 5 or 6 minutes of walking I finally hit the timing mat and was off and jogging. I bobbed and weaved my way through the crowds but I didn't fight too much. I wasn't trying to really run this marathon so the crowds were a good way to keep myself in check early on.

Got to the first bridge and the half and full marathoners merged together. What a mess. I like big marathons but the mass starts really get on my nerves sometimes. I found myself hopping back and forth over the median in order to find room to run. I would pick a mark to run behind for a minute and when some space opened up I would sprint through until I hit the next wall of people and then slow down to pace off of them. The half and full seperated again at mile 2 before coming back together again at mile 3.

That was pretty much how it went for the next several miles. My pace was on target for my projected 5 hour finish, but I just wanted to find some nice open space to run in for a while.

Just before mile 7 we hit the section with the majority of the fans (except for the finish of course). I could hear people in the crowd cheering for a group of marines ahead of me. Hmmmm. My friend Julia is a marine and running her first marathon today with a bunch of her marine buddies. I pick up the pace a bit and low and behold it's them! One of them was even running his first marathon in boots and fatigues! As we talked for a bit a random woman came up beside me and handed me one of those purple braclets everyone seems to have for a cause these days. This one said "Freedom is not free"! Possibly the coolest thing anyone has ever done for me at a race! I put it on, thanked her and kept pacing my friends. They were looking for a 4 hour finish so I was a little surprised that I had caught up with them. Apparently I was moving a little faster than I had planned, but I felt great so I saw no reason to slow.

After a mile with them I decided to sprint on out ahead and do some speed intervals to break up the monotony. Cranked out mile 8 in nearly 7 minutes flat. Mile 9 was where the half runners split off and turned back around. Finally! I had room to run! I could already start to feel the soreness in my ankle so I decided that I would keep up the intervals until the half-way point and then slow to an easier pace.

Made it past Rice University and hit the half marker at a pace for a 3:30 finish! I was destroying my 5 hour goal by accident but I saw no reason to slow down that much. I started to think about trying to break my marathon PR (3:45) but I didn't want to beat myself up that much today. The Mardi Gras and Austin marathons are just around the corner afterall. I ran over the 59 access road and decided to let off the gas after that.

At mile 16 I caught up to a guy running in a tri top and shorts. Looked at his arm and he had a tattoo of the IMCDA logo! Had to talk to this guy. His name was Demitry and he also had an IMLP tatto on his left arm and a swimmer/biker/runner on his lower back. He's been doing Ironmans for the last 5 years and had been running ultras for the last 2. Turns out he was at Sunmart running the 50-miler when I was there doing my first 50K. He's also going to be organizing the Texas Independence Day 5K in Austin. Really cool talking with this guy who loves endurance racing the same way I do.

We talked for about 2 miles before I decided to take my first walk break at mile 18. At mile 20 we hit Memorial Park and mile 21 was the truck handing out free Michelob Ultra. Personally I can't stand Michelob Ultra but at this point in the race I'd make an exception. My ankle was getting worse so it was a perfectly good excuse to walk for a minute. Went past mile 23 and Buffalo Bayou Park when I saw a guy running the opposite direction in an IM top. It was Dave Scott! I checked the race results and he wasn't listed, but I met him at a tri in Irving just a few months ago and I'm sure it was him.

Mile 24 brought us back to the course the half runners had already been over and the crowds were back in full force. Sadly, I was drained. I had already hit the wall and just didn't care enough to push through it. Had I started the day chasing a PR I might have pushed harder, but today I was just happy to run/walk the rest of the way and get to Celeste's BT post-race party afterwards. The angle of the roads was really doing a number on my ankle by this point so I made sure to run in the middle of the road whenever it was possible.

Headed into downtown and was just a mile from the finish now. As I came around the next to last corner two guys thanked me for carrying the flag and said that they were running with me the rest of the way. Crap. All I wanted to do was walk to the last corner and then jog in the rest of the way. Now I have to run to make these guys happy! Fine. One last half mile won't kill me. We jogged to the corner and as we made the turn we could see the blue finishing banner a good ways down the street. Picked up our turnover and really pushed the pace those last few blocks. The crowds were roaring as we came across the finish and I was ready to get in line for a massage.

Sub-4:00 finish on a day when I was planning on taking 5. On top of that, Houston made it 2.5 marathons in 9 days. I'm pretty pround of myself for that one. Next year I hope I can string 4 or 5 marathons together on consecutive weekends.

Run slower. I pushed myself in the beginning to hurry and get away from the big crowds of runners, but I paid for it at the end of the day.

Got my finisher photo taken, got my medal and immediately jumped in line for the massages. It was about a twenty minute wait and just before it was my turn my friend Cheryl walked up to the back of the line. I had met her at a tri in October (she goes to A&M with a friend of mine from high school) and this was her first marathon.

Got my massage and then walked around to get my finisher premiums (a techincal shirt and a mug). On my way back to towards the finish I found Brad who had missed his goal of 4:00 by nearly 30 minutes. He was in pretty bad shape. So I left my stuff with him so he could sit in one spot while I looked for our friend Audrey (she had just run her first half). Ran into Julia and she and her friends had finish in about 4:20. The guy running in boots had some major blister problems towards the end and Julia fireman-carried him for a good half mile. This chick is such a hoss! Found Audrey and we got Brad, walked to the car and were on our way to Celeste's party!


Running a full and a half marathon the week before this marathon.


Houston is a top-notch race. The course is flat which can be a little difficult at times. I prefer to have a few hills in the mix to work some different muscle groups along the way. I'm sure I'll be back again next year.