I am a Marathoner

It was an amazing weekend! We arrived in San Francisco without incident. I was concerned about 40 people traveling together and my biggest fear was people not being able to get their act together at baggage claim. My fears were unnecessary. And before I knew it we were checked into our hotel.

We went to the race expo. Which was an interesting experience. The race was sponsored by Nike and instead of having vendors at the expo, participants were directed across the street to Niketown. to purchase their Nike race souvenirs. It was pure marketing genius from Nike.

A few days before the race, Runner Girl Leana was kind enough to forward me an official race email that I had not received. The email had a few last minute tips and an email address to send a picture of the people we were running for. Casey made the big screen at the expo.



When we returned from the expo, I was pleasantly surprised to find a dozen beautiful roses sent to me by my family to wish me luck and say how proud they were of me!



Saturday was a laid back day and I was up early. I sent Jamie a text message to sadly bow out of our run. With a planned trip to Alcatraz, I didn't want to spend too much time on my legs.

Sunday I woke up about 15 minutes before the alarm was going to go off. I got up, got dressed and headed out. There was the usual bag checking and the irrational need to pee 500 times before the start of the race. Our hotel was less than a block away from the 4:30 pace group and we made three trips back.

While waiting for the race to start a beautiful tall blonde walked by and I instantly recognized Leana. We talked, took a picture and even had an opportunity to run together for a little bit.



There were so many runners. I started with the 4:30 pace group. I had them within my reach as we passed the Golden Gate Bridge, and just like that, they were gone. The course climbed ad climbed. The hills were really tough. We made a turn and we were looking down at the Pacific Ocean. It was absolutely breathtaking!

At one point the 4:45 pace group had caught and passed me. I ran with them for a while and then they were gone too. We made our way through Golden Gate Park and out to the Great Highway. Just before the 18 mile mark, the 5:00 pace group was right behind me. I struggled to keep them behind me for about a mile and then I decided to join them too. Before we were at mile 20, I was struggling to keep up, and then they were gone too.

We were headed toward the back side of Lake Merced this part of the course went on and on and on. There was little crowd support during this stretch, but I had a personal pick-me-up at mile 21. There were two women cheering as runners passed by. With my name on my singlet, they both said "Go Maddy" and then they gasped and started screaming "MADDY!!!!!!!!!!". As it turns out, these women were former co-workers at my last company. They are identical twins and their brother was running the race. What a pleasant surprise to see friends when I was struggling a bit.

After the loop around the lake we were back on The Great Highway and on the home stretch. The last two miles were surreal. There were so many people on the side of the road, cheering and calling my name and giving me encouragement. I feel like my pace picked up those last two miles.

I crossed the line and received my finishers medal, a Tiffany necklace.

My final time was 5:19:11 - 49 minutes slower than my goal. While I was prepared for the distance, I don't think I was totally prepared for the hills.

So what does that mean? It means my next marathon selection will be on a flatter course, because I'm totally hooked!