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Comments: My official race time was 5:05 for 26.2..the above is what the garmin said at the end of the race..a 10ish min stop at a portopotty line was not included in the garmin time! I ran with my cousin Julie and cousin inlaw Scot for the first 5ish miles then lost them when I dropped my jacket and Ipod. I caught up to them again around mile 7 but stayed behind them because I didnt want Julie and I to pace each other..(I think we both would tend to run faster than we should). At mile 7.5 I saw Julie dart off to the side and realized there was finally a single hidden portopotty that only had about 5 people in line! She ended up ahead of me in line and just as she got out I saw Jen (other 2nd cousin) running up the hill so yelled at Julie to go catch her. Jenn stopped to talk to her and it turns out she wasnt feeling very well. I told them both to take off and I would try and catch up to them later. Once I was on the road again it didnt take long to catch Jenn at about mile 8.5..what a trooper!..I moved on to catch up with Julie who had just taken off on Jenn. Then right around mile 9 my IT band started giving me problems and my hip was getting tight..I came upon a downhill and decided it would be smarter to walk down it and preserve myself from the dreaded sharp knee pain I figured might ensue if I did. That was the first of many walk breaks so I lost Julie. I walked again for a little bit right before mile 11 and the turn off for the half. Right at the turn off I heard a "Go Beth" from the crowd! so cool! It was Pam and her husband in the bleachers and I was able to pick them out and wave back. At about mile 14 I decided to a run 10min walk 2 min deal. I had caught up to Julie and ran with her for a bit then took off figuring she would catch up to me when I walked. It worked fine for a couple of miles and I was actually running in the 9s WHEN I was running. I did this all the way until mile 19 when there was a long slow up hill. Yep walked the whole hill!! As I was walking up the hill Julie was running down so I told her how far she was. After that my calfs started playing games with me. Whenever I felt them tighten up I walked. I finally got to the last turn around at mile 20ish and found a bottle of water and a bag of pretzels at the table so walked a bit while I ate my "lunch" I also stopped and stretched my hips best I could at which time Julie passed me again. Ugh I did not want to start running again and then suddenly I remembered what Mavy did during her Ironman..something about running so many steps then walking so many steps. So that is what I did..ran 200 steps and walked 100 steps for the next 5ish miles counting the steps the whole way. As I was getting to the finish I did more running that walking..my legs were numb and my calves were hanging in there. Finally when I got to the last half mile I remembered that Dick Dime slogan on the fund raiser shirt I bought "when your legs give out run with your heart" and THAT is exactly what I did. I sprinted past a few dozen people. I have to say the fanfare at the end was just as great as the Ironman although I dont think they called out my name because my race number was a messed up ball of crumpledness!! Still AWESOME!! What would you do differently?: I dont know what I would do differently Ive been dealing with PF forever. I wasnt expecting the IT band going but was doing a lot of darting through the crowds with Julie early on so maybe that aggravated it. or maybe doing minimal training on roads. The time is what it is..though only thing I might have done differently is hold out longer for an empty portopotty line or not have to go!  Post race
Warm down: Walked the crowd. The first people I saw was Pam and her husband. I talked to them for a bit and then wandered down aways before bumping into Scot and Jen and Tucker. I think Julie came in within 3minutes of me..so proud of her doing the whole 26.2. Not something I would have ever fathomed as a 20yr old!! We all chatted a bit then Tuck Erica and I left for a Chilis on the way home..Beer and Burger hit the spot!! Texted and Fbed a little bit then slept the rest of the way home!! So nice to have a chauffeur!! What limited your ability to perform faster: PF, suboptimal training. I could be in better shape. Event comments: Well organized for 25k runners!!...I would highly recommend this marathon..great venue..AWESOME voluteers!!..Just make sure you eat breakfast BEFORE you get to the race or you may be running hungry!! Last updated: 2011-08-14 12:00 AM
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United States
Philadelphia Marathon
50isF / 0C
Sunny
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 0/
Met up with my 2nd cousins and cousin in law at the expo at 5ish saturday night. Perused the Expo after checking in and finally bought myself a pair of Ironman Yurbuds and a rather cool race belt that fits my phone. I normally dont carry my phone but didnt want to check bags and needed it at the end of the race. I bumped into Pam (stumfossil) and her hubby and chatted for a few minutes. She wanted to run so bad and was still weighing it in her head..ultimately she made the right decision. We decided to eat at one of the race recommended restaurants for dinner. I think if was called Grill17 or something like that. Omgosh the adventure involved finding that place was too funny. I had googled the address and it didnt look too far from the convention center so we headed out to walk what we thought was about 6 blocks. We got soooo lost!! When we finally got to what we thought was the address we were in the wrong part of the city and the reservation was up in about 15mins!! So we are standing in a somewhat quiet neighborhood trying to figure out what to do...no cabs in sight. We were about to go into the Walgreens to get directions to call a cab but a random bus pulled up. It wasnt an official stop but I tapped on the door and told him we had no idea where we were. Not a really friendly guy but he said he would be going through that neighborhood and drop us there. So we all hop on said random bus and he is taking turns all over the place and we were all thinking wow we are really going to be lost now! He drops off on this street that was supposedly in the right neighborhood but NOPE NOT!!! We walked a bit and found a nice Irish Pub that was way cheaper than our original choice and then took a cab back to the convention center after. Fun dinner with my oldest, his girlfriend, my 2nd cousins and cousin in law but oh my too funny on getting lost!
We stayed at the Marriot Residence Inn in Cherry Hill. Which is only 15min outside the city and way cheaper than any of the rooms left for picking when I was looking for a room in late September. I highly recommend this place as its like a studio. sitting area for TV, Kitchenette,separate bathroom. Its only 15minutes outside the city and a great location.
Anywho I got up at 4 ate some granola bars and an orange and had a cup of Chai tea. Woke Tucker up at 4:30 and headed into the city at 5 because I heard they close roads early. He dropped me off in the pitch dark at the start line and later told me he still had a hard time getting out of the city. I texted my cousins because I was told to meet at the Rocky stairs but it was too dark to see where it was. Turns out they had just walked past me as I was texting them but neither of us saw each other. So after meeting up we walked around a bit and looked for food because Julie the cousin that was running the marathon with me hadnt eaten. There was nothing open and convenient not even at any of the booths that were there to sell stuff!! I gave her the granola bar I had in my pocket but finally we convinced a guy selling giros to give us some bread!! haha yeah he thought we were a little odd. Anyway hung out until it was time to line up we mozied over to our corral (which was the last one). We never took off until a half hour after the gun went off..the race was supposed to start at 7. I dont know if it went off on time but we never crossed over the start line until 730a..our warmup was walking the quarter mile to get to the start line!!..hey its a marathon the warmup is included in the race!!