Marine Corps Marathon Race Report

NEIL CLARK | Bib #25488 | PURVIS, MS - US | Age 52 | M

START

10K

HALF

23M

FINISH

8:47:16 EST

1:14:58

2:32:15

4:28:13

05:08:57

TIME

Chip Time: 05:08:57

Clock: 05:11:02

Pace: 11:47

Placement

Overall: 12523

Gender: 8207

Division: 723

I ran my first, and maybe my last, marathon in Washington DC on October 30, 2005. As a casual and slow runner, who only runs recreationally, the Marine Corps Marathon was quite a challenge. For those of you who are competitive and a lot more serious than I am about running, a marathon may not be that big of a deal. But to me it was a very big deal. I have had the desire to run one for a long time, but was never really committed to the training that is required. I just never had the time. I finally made the commitment to run the MCM after my daughter Joy 'tricked' me in to it. Knowing that the MCM was full and taking no more entries, I told her that I'd run it if I could get in. Unbeknownst to me, her company was a corporate sponsor with unfilled sponsor entry slots. Well, with about 3 months to get ready, I trained. I ran mostly on the backroads around my home in Purvis and occasionally on the Longleaf Trace, but I always ran alone. Not the best way to train, but my schedule was too erratic to try to find running buddies and besides all of you PBP runners are too fast for me. The marathon experience was great. I went to the pasta dinner, listened to the speakers, went to the expo, met and talked in length with Jeff Galloway (I trained using his methods) and was pumped for the race. The marathon was wonderful. Lots and lots of runners and many thousands of cheering spectators, bands playing, and perfect weather made for a great day. Except....I wasn't ready enough. The first half was good; the next few miles were harder and the last 3 miles were real hard. But I made it to the finish line and that was good enough for me. If you are waiting for my time, too bad. I was slow but it didn't matter, when that Marine put the medallion around my neck and said "good job sir" that made it all worthwhile. Will I run another? The first week after I said #@!! NO, right now I say NO, later I might say MAYBE.