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Comments: The first Half was amazing. I felt outstanding. The air was pretty cool, I was taking in gatorade and water at the stops, and I took a gel pack at the 7 mile mark and the 14 mile mark. I actually hit the Half faster than I've ever run a half. This probably should have been cause for concern. But the race was sweet, and the trip through downtown Fairborn was awesome. I saw my parents, there were tons of spectators cheering us on, and our names were on our bibs so people could yell out our names. Then we turned back into the base. I was still going strong when I stopped to use the restroom a little before the halfway point. Felt fine coming into Mile 14 and 15. At Mile 15 I took a sponge and it felt great... then we ran into the woods and shade. I started to freeze my butt off and I'm shivering. I knew around Mile 18 I was in trouble. I hit Mile 20 at the 3 hour mark and felt like maybe I still had a chance to finish under 4 hours... Then the wheels fell off. Between Mile 20 & 21 my right quad just locked up. I have never had a cramp like that before. Not during the Oly I did and not during the longer adventure races I've done. The muscle just wouldn't work anymore. So I started walking and decided to get as much fluids into me as I could. After Mile 21 the 4:00 pace group blew by me, but I just couldn't do anything about it. It was odd because my heart rate didn't feel too out of whack and I wasn't breathing hard, but my leg wouldn't work. It took me 40 minutes to get from Mile 20 to 23. I'd shuffle for a bit, then walk, then shuffled some more. I cursed Hal Higdon for making me think running 20 miles would prepare me for running 26. I started feeling a little better, and miles 23 to 26 weren't as bad. As we were about 1/2 mile from the finish line I cramped up and started walking again, but another runner encouraged me and I started running and finished as strong as I could. My parents and David were cheering me on as I crossed the line. I did it! And I have a new found respect for the challenge that is a marathon. Those last 6 miles were one of the hardest things I've ever done. What would you do differently?: I don't know why I cramped up. I took Gels at each hour and I thought I took in enough fluids at the water stops. I think maybe walking through the stops to make sure I took the fluids in would help, and maybe taking the gels more frequently. It was a much hotter and sunnier day than I expected.  Post race
Warm down: I get through the chute and get my medal. Thankfully a volunteer handed me a glass of water. David runs up to me and tells me Andy collapsed at the finish (he finished in just over 4 hours... he was trying to kick it in to get under the mark). I should have gone to medical to see how he was, but I needed a banana and some gatorade or I was gonna have to go to medical. Andy had collapsed about 100 feet short and needed two IV bags. I found my wife shortly thereafter (she finished in a great time of 4:33). Once Andy was up and walking we headed back to the buses. What limited your ability to perform faster: That muscle cramp in my left quad and going out too fast. Event comments: Volunteers and downtown Fairborn were great. It was very lonely out there on the base during the last half of the race. Last updated: 2008-06-22 12:00 AM
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United States
United States Air Force
Sunny
Overall Rank = 726/1797
Age Group = M25-29
Age Group Rank = 73/149
The week before the race I made sure to carb up and drink plenty of water. Andy and David (running the 10K) came up the night before and we headed to the Nutter Center to pick up our packets. My wife and I had trained according to Hal Higdon's Novice II plan. I didn't feel as nervous about the marathon as I usually do before races because my wife and I are trying to close on a house, and that is much more nerve wracking.
Nothing too exciting. I woke up about 4:30am had a bagel and a banana and worked out the morning constitutional. After body gliding up Andrea, Andy and I headed down to the race around 6:15am. We were bused in from the parking lot to the start line, and the smell of Ben Gay was in the air. It was a decent walk from the bus droppoff to the start line and I was not looking forward to the walk back.
We found my parents in the spectator area at the starting line a few minutes before the race started. The flyover by the F-22s was AWESOME. They flew directly over the starting line, then hit their afterburners and went straight up. Between the second and third flyovers the starting gun sounded and I was off on my first marathon.