The Detroit Marathon
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The Detroit Marathon - Run
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Comments: Did first mile in 10:20! YEEESH. OUCH! Sooo many runners. I knew my first mile would be slow, but not THAT slow. By mile five I had chipped my avg down to 9 minutes, even. At mile 6, the course took us over the Ambassador Bridge, and into Canada. Saw Gov. Jen Granholm with a small posse, at bridge enterance. Neat! By mile 10, I had dropped avg down to 8:45. I felt good. Seeing the Detroit skyline from the Canada side in the early morning was a highlight. Met my Sister at the half-way point (1:55.08). My race goal had been 3:45, so I was right on target. I continued to bang out the miles at good paces but I could tell that they were becoming more *forced* as opposed to natural. At mile 17, the course took us onto Belle Isle (a small island on the Detroit river). Right about now I started to labor...miles were definitely becoming *hard* and LONG. As we were about to cross the bridge back into Detroit I saw a guy literally "drop" from exhaustion. Several spectators and runners ran to help him...by the time I crested the bridge police and an ambulance had whizzed by. What was neat about the course was once we exited off the bridge (THANK GOD) we had exactly a 10K left. At this point I was STILL right on pace for 3:45 finish. Then. Things started to fall apart. Not only did the miles seem forced, but aches emerged: Hamstrings, quads, calfs. I had hoped to be able to finish strong, and even though up till now I was tiring, I still felt I had an extra gear in me for a fast finish. BUT. Once the pains emerged...well. No extra gear. I knew I was in trouble when I couldn't suck on a jollyrancher (I had to spit it out). Mile 21. Gosh. The impulse to walk began to hit me. Fellow runners were dropping left and right. Somehow, I mustered the energy and refused the OVERWHELMING urge to walk. Miles now seemed SOOOOOOOOOOOOO LOOOOOOOOOONG. Sadly, my splits began to suffer. I'm not sure exactly what they were - as I was too busy trying to keep myself together at this point - but one mile was 9:15. At mile 22 beer was offered. I grabbed one, took a swallow and promptly spit it out again. GOD. The urge to walk was SOOO strong. I was becoming distraught. Not only was my goal time slipping away, but now I was struggling with just "finishing." This marathon was so much different from my Spring marathon where I took it out in two hours but finished hard (1:55). More and more people were walking...I didn't feel the urge to cry, but I definitely was overcome by emotion as I soldiered on. The last .2 miles took us into Ford Field (home of the 4-2 Detroit Lions!). What SUCKED was we had run down a steep, clay incline (for which I skipped). I crossed the finish line. NEVER had I felt so exhausted. I was disappointed in my time, but I was bouyed by the fact that I still PB'ed by 5 minutes, and I did finish without walking. I must've looked bad, since I was approached by several volunteers. All around me people were sprawled out on the turf; some were sitting, others, well... I made my way up several flights of stairs out of the stadium bowl, but couldn't find my sister. I HAD to find her. Damn, I was in such a mess. Eventually I just "dropped" under a pillar and wrapped my tin foil cape around my body and tried not to pass out. Several kind people approached and asked if I needed help, etc. After sitting maybe 20 minutes a fellow marathoner saw me trying to get up and offered his hand...I began looking for her again. Eventually I saw her outside the stadium. All marathoners upon finishing the race were funneled out of the stadium admist a HUNDREDS of spectators. So somehow when I exited the stadium she had missed me, and I her. I felt like salmon going up stream trying to get by all these people outside...Honestly, if I had saw earlier, I might HAVE cried. By now though, my body and mind had stablized. What would you do differently?: Not sure. Train harder? Take it out even faster? ![]() Post race
Event comments: The finish was sooo CRAZY. Finding people was near impossible. Last updated: 2004-10-25 12:00 AM
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United States
55F / 13C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 1093/3514
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 150/390
Up at 5:45. Showered. Ate a Clif bar and downed a glass of hydralite. My sister and I were out the door at 6:40. Got to race 15 minutes prior to start. Posistioned myself in the 3:50 age group.