The Cowtown Marathon - RunMarathon

By the time I found Texmom, most runners had taken off. My chip time was about 6 minutes behind the gun time. We found the start mat and began the race. We started off really fast because everyone was gone! People were running in the opposite direction looking for the start mat...a little crazy! We finally slowed down to an easy pace which was a bit slower than I wanted to go. After about the first 1 1/2 miles, I needed to pick my pace up if I was going to finish in my goal range. So I said my goodbyes to Texmom, dblack and Ben. I felt great on the run. Around mile 3, I saw my husband on the side of the road yelling for me. It was great to see him so early on...Somewhere around mile 6, I accidently turned off my garmin. When I passed mile 7, I thought, "Wow, Cowtown is WAY OFF on the mile markers." Then I realized it was me! I figured my garmin was stopped for about 5 minutes or so. I had to gage my run by pace to finish within my goal. I kept a very steady pace throughout the run. Mile 18, my knees began to ache. I never hit a wall or thought "How much longer?" It was just my knees. I saw 2 of my kids, my brother and parents at mile 20. It was good to get a little encouragement. Then I saw my husband at mile 22. (he was the time keeper) By mile 24, I was in pain. The roads were so uneven and bumpy. I think running on an uneven surface really played a role with my knees hurting. I was still on target to finish my goal though. At mile 25, I said, suck it up and run girl! So, I put the knee pain out of my mind and finished strong. It was a great race.

I think I planned well. The beginning of the race was a little frantic trying to figure out how, why we missed the gun. All in all, I would have done the same thing. Also, the weather was perfect! A little chilly starting out, but it warmed up just enough to make for a great run.

I actually finished the race with 5 seconds to spare...my goal was between 4:15 and 4:20...my chip time was 4:19:55!!! WooHoo!

I went into the food tent to get some goodies and soup. I received my long sleeved finisher's shirt...which is really nice...then found my daughter and brother. I made my way back to the finish line to cheer on Texmom. I didn't really stretch as well as I should have, but I wasn't hurting. I did ice my knees when I got home. It helped.


I think I did the best I could. I do know that I want to pay more attention to the way I train for races...especially trying to do more sprints, tempo runs, etc. I want to increase my pace time for the next marathon.


Although the start was so disorganized and many runners were still getting there chips and packets, the race was good. I can't imagine trying to pull off such a large event. I saw several 10K runners on the marathon course. The 10K started at the same time as the 1/2, marathon and ultra, but went out in the opposite direction. I think first time runners just got confused on where to start.

I do love this event and plan on running the marathon again next year. It's a great course!