Marine Corp Marathon Race Report

OK so here is my race report!  Dow and I run as a joint venture.  We
love the time together and need to stay in shape since we have a 9
year old son to keep up with.  Dow has run consistently for over 25
years, doing long distances on road and trail.  I, on the other hand,
have run mostly short distances on and off since college.  We have
been married for two years and on my 50th birthday, I decided that
with Dow's help, I would like to train for a marathon.  February,
2007, my mission was accomplished when I completed the Mercedes
Marathon in Birmingham, AL.  Great experience.

Our oldest daughter and her husband are physicians in the Army,
currently stationed in DC. Our son-in-law just completed an 18 month
tour of duty in Afghanistan.  While there he decided he would train
for and run in the Marine Corp Marathon upon his return.  We decided
we would join him in his endeavor.  That way we could visit with our
daughter, run with him and take in a few sights.  All that decided,
we registered on the opening day of registration in May.  Soon after
we bought airline tickets for the 3 of us and began our training.  I
am a planner and I like to have all my plans laid out well in advance.

Training started off good; however, the heat was the pits. I
definitely run better in cool/cold weather.  Our long runs began to
build.  I developed a slight pain in my left foot (I noticed it after
climbing up and down a ladder we used to paint our den) but continued
to run.  After running the Tupelo Half Marathon (14.2 to be exact) in
September, my foot pain grew worse.  I spent time on a stationary
bike instead of running.  Pain decreased but was still present.
Thinking that it might be a stress fracture, I went to the doctor and
had x-rays and a bone density test.  The x-ray did not detect a
fracture and the bone density test came back good.

After reading about the Chicago Marathon and with our continued hot
weather, we decided we would make the trip and decide about running
as the day approached. We flew into Reagan National Airport on
Thursday and rode the Metro to the DC Armory to secure our race bags
and to visit the Race Expo.  There were plenty of vendors and getting
our race bags and chips was a breeze.  From there we Metroed to our
daughter's house in Silver Spring, MD.

Friday, in-spite of the rain, we caught the Metro and went to the
Holocaust Museum.  Saturday we relaxed, ate pasta and checked the
weather. The forecast was for a low of 44 degrees and a high of 68
degrees with no rain. Perfect!  We decided that we would run as much
of the race as I could run then walk the rest.

At 5:30 a.m. on Sunday (race day), we caught the Metro to the Pentagon,
then had over a mile walk to drop off our bag and on to the starting
line.  The weather was
great.  There were plenty of runners, (accounts run as high as
30,000!) and plenty of excitement (and port-o-potties which are very
important!).

It took us over 8 minutes to get to the starting line after the gun
went off.  Since it was cool that morning the first couple of miles
were littered with gloves, socks (used for gloves), hats, toboggans,
jackets, garbage bags (used for jackets) water bottles, coffee cups
etc.  At about mile 2, I managed to get tangled up in a black garbage
bag, which brought me to my knees.  Luckily somewhere in my past I
had perfected the tuck, duck and roll technique, I grabbed a fellow
runner's out stretched arm and was back on my feet before Dow was
able to turn and come to my assistance.  I never stopped my forward
motion and as we ran we noted my skinned palms, scratched knees and
a  tear in my favorite CW-X tights!  I had taken my Ibuprofen prior
to the start so the accident did not cause any additional aches or
pains.

At one point Dow reminded me to look for Nestor as the course was
looping back parallel to itself.  Sure enough, just moments after Dow
said it, we spotted him and were able to encourage him a bit.  He
seemed to be "in his zone" and our yelling his name seemed to
surprise him.

I managed to run half the marathon.  Then Dow pushed me on towards
the cut-off bridge which we made in plenty of time.  After that we
intermittently walked and ran.

There were cheering spectators, bands, music and wonderful sites on
the entire course.    This helped the miles to blend together and
made the time pass more quickly.  We got a burst of energy and were
able to run the final mile or so.  Then there was a mile hike to the
UPS trucks that stored our bags.   Fortunately there was food,
drinks, and excitement all along the way.  It didn't hurt that we had
a medal around our neck!  After hanging out in "Runner's Village"  we
rode the Metro back to within a mile of our daughter's house and
drove from there.

We flew home on Monday.  It was easily to
recognize fellow marathoners at the airport if not by their brown
"mock neck" race shirt, by their after race shuffle or the grimace on
their face when sitting or rising.

As it turned our, our daughter had to be in Peru at the time of the
marathon and our son-in-law twisted his ankle a couple of weeks prior
to the marathon and was unable to run.  So much for all my planning.
God has been using events like this in my life to teach me to relax
and be flexible.  I must admit that this experience is one that I
will treasure.  Having run my only 2 marathons 8 months apart with 2
half marathons in between, gives you a feeling of accomplishment.
All that said, I think I will stick to halves in the future. (Dow
laughed at this!)

The Marine Corp marathon was a great experience for  me and I would
highly recommend it.

© Renee' Ford

Renee' and Dow Ford -It's all about the medals!
 
Race Whining Report by Nestor Raul Anzola
 
PR yes! but did not do very good!

From the "fun" point of view, it was a great experience. It's a beautiful course, great organization, excellent weather conditions, and I enjoyed very much running with thousands and thousands of people. I met a lot of folks from the charity organization and several old friends from Colombia.

From the competitive point of view.... the last miles were really a disaster!
What a funny thing! in the poll I added that thing about Raul hitting the wall and missing his expected time and guess what..... it was what happened in fact!!
I was feeling really good, so I started strong.  My splits times until the half point were as follow: 5m (38:23); 10m (1:17:38 ); 13.1m (1:44:14).  I was qualifying to Boston until mile 6-7 (haha!).  I was doing so well at the half point marker I was 2 minutes ahead of my PR time for the half marathon (Mardi Gras Marathon 2007).  I was impressed with the split times, so I started dreaming about a good overall performance.  I knew I would probably start slowing down mile by mile but still could break the 4 hours. It happened like that until mile 18 but still was somehow OK at mile 22.  Split15m (2:02:29); split 18m (2:32:45); split 22m (3:18:56).  I thouhtg I could keep a steady 10m pace but.... everything went wrong... cramps everywhere even in the tongue and left arm (a heart attack?).  In addition, a had a horrible pain in the plant of the feet. I felt I was walking on fire. Anyway, the fact is that I did horrible and had a crappy time in the last 4.2 miles.  I spent 58:05 in 4.1 miles!!!  Can you believe it?  What a dissapointing finish!  My 93-old grand grand mom could walk a faster pace!  At the end I managed to complete the marathon in 4:17:01

For sure the MCM performance marked the end of my marathon career!  I will be back to my 5 and 10Ks and of course to the half marathon, distances in which my body doesn't give me unpleasant surprises.  I officially say BYE-BYE, HASTA LA VISTA BABY forever to the marathons!