Denver Marathon - RunMarathon

This was my mom's first marathon and she told me she had started to feel really intimidated that morning. I knew she could do it, but it was going to be tough. We crowded in with everyone else, the gun went off and it took about five minutes for us to hit the actual start line. Things started out slow as we needed to make a porta potty stop. There were only a couple at each aid station with lines about 20 deep. I finally found an alley, but my mom couldn't bring herself to use it so eventually we waited in one of the looooooonnnnnng lines at a porta potty. We did have to make a few other porta potty stops during the race, but the first 8 miles was the worst of it as far as losing time.

Here we are around mile 4.5 ish.


I knew my mom was worried about the time we had lost in the first 8 miles. I also knew we just couldn't make up that time without costing ourselves dearly later in the race so we maintained the pace we were supposed to. This ended up being a smart decision. Around miles 15-16 I was really starting to feel the altitude and I was getting dehydrated by the dry Colorado air, despite taking two drinks at almost every single aid station. It was also getting hot. The temps rose from a perfect 50ish at the start to the lower 80s over the course of the race. At mile 17 we hit Washington Park and I hit my true low point of the race. I was starting to feel light-headed, my mouth felt like it was filled with cotton, breathing the dry air felt like it was scratching my throat, and I was caked in salt. I was barely keeping up the pace and I just wanted to walk.

Shortly after mile 17 we saw the BT crowd - Laura (Whizzzz), Drew (drewb8) Tony (mr2tony), and Stacie (luv2ride). They all had huge smiles on their faces and were a welcome site. I hugged Laura and then Drew was standing there with this huge grin on his face and his arm out to hug me. Hugging him felt like the most awesome thing in the world at that moment. I thought how nice it would be to stay there, but everyone was so excited to see us racing and there was no way I would give up and leave my mom out there by herself.

My mom (rmarzano), me, and Drew (drewb8) at mile 17:


After we left them things were bad - and I must have looked it. My mom kept telling me if I needed to pull out it was okay. We had thought we'd be on our own from mile 17 to the finish, but the BT crew had crossed the park and they were waiting for us at Mile 21 too! It was a huge boost to see them. And Drew had the same huge smile on his face and when I hugged him I had the same sad thought that staying there would be so nice. But again, everyone was so encouraging and I knew I needed to get it together.

We had fallen into a pattern of walking a minute or so at the mile marker and then again through the aid stations. Around mile 22 I realized that as nice as walking felt mentally, physically it was much more painful. I was more lightheaded and my hips felt like they wanted to crack and break in half when I was walking. I also felt like I was holding a better pace when running then I had been able to before.

Finally we saw the mile 25 marker. What a beautiful site it was. Shortly after Jonathan (jowisc) was there cheering for us. As we rounded the last corner I told my mom, "See the mile 13 sign from the half marathon Mom. That means we only have .1 miles to go!" Then I realized, "Mom - we can see the finish line - LOOK!!" We saw my Dad and Bekka, and Jonathan again and then we ran across the finish line with huge smiles on our faces. Then we gave each other a huge hug. My mom got emotional and started crying a little and saying, "I did it! I can't believe I just did it!"

Here I am giving five to some random guy at the finish line:


Running this race with my mom was an awesome experience and I'm glad I had the chance to do it.


Get acclimated to the altitude first, not fall apart, drink more, I dunno. It was the toughest marathon I've ever done - by a large measure. The IM marathon didn't even feel as difficult as this one. I'm not going to dissect it much. I'm just going to be grateful we both made it to the finish line together and happy.

We got the measly pickings that were left over in the finisher chute for the BOP marathoners (the vast majority of runners were halfers so by the time we finished there was almost nothing left) and then met my dad, Bekka, Jonathan, Drew, and Laura and headed to Katie Mullens to meet the other BTers who did the race.

My mom and I after the finish (not waving from our podium spots, just waving to my dad):



See "What would you do differently?"


The race was well put on. The volunteers and police were good and things were organized. They do need more porta potties in the earlier aid stations as there were not nearly enough to accommodate the number of runners on the course. It would also be nice if they had a bit more recovery food for the BOP marathon finishers. These two issues were certainly not enough to detract from what a great experience the race was overall though. I would definitely recommend this event.