Cupid's Classic Marathon

Race #3 of 2010 gave me another opportunity to practice mind over matter when the going gets tough. This race was held on mid-morning on Saturday along rural roads and highways. The course was a double out and back with races being offered from every distance between 1 mile and a marathon. I opted to take an early start (9:30)….most marathoners did since we are accustomed to early morning races. The forecast called for cold rain and that is exactly what we got. It was hard to leave to warmth of my car for the startline, but once we got going it was fine. Jill Hudson and I ran together until the turn around of the first out and back. We hit a busy 2 lane highway with no shoulder at mile 4 and had to run single file. After the turn I sped up a bit, then a bit more. I passed mile 11 (and the start/finish line) well below marathon pace (first time that’s happened since October). At mile 11.5 my gut gave out. Huge waves of nausea overcame me and I slowed to a walk. The way the course was set up, we had to turn around again at mile 12 then proceed back to the start/finish at mile 13.1 before heading out for one more lap. Jill caught up with me and convinced me to try and reach the 12 mile turnaround, then quit at mile 13.1 if I had to. She is wise. I forced myself to pick up my walk a bit. Mile 12 found me running again, mile 13.1 I was too stubborn to quit and at mile 14 I passed Jill again. The second half of the race went surprising well. The rain had picked up, as had the traffic along the highway. I kept my pace deliberately slow to make sure I finished. When I passed by the finish line (for the 3rd time) I noticed that the course would be long. That was OK, an extra mile never hurt anyone, it just effects your finish time. I completed my race in 4:40 or so. I had no idea how that compared to other runners since so many races of different distances started at once. When the results were published, I managed to be the first masters woman.