I woke up at 5:30am, ate breakfast and started driving at 6:30am. On the way I noticed the beautiful sunrise over the water and stopped to take a picture of it at a location that was close to the race.
A lot of cars were driving into the parking lot of the marathon location around 7:10am, but thankfully, I was able to find a spot that was about a two minute walk from the start and finish of the race. At around 7:20am, the lineups for the washrooms took about 15 minutes.
After stretching and having a bathroom break, I walked to the starting line and asked one of the elite runners to take a picture of me.
I thanked the runner, moved to Corral C and waited for the event to start with the rest of the participants.
When I started running, I felt that I was breathing more heavily than normal so I went at a slower pace than usual. This could have been because of being nervous.
I ran at a steady pace for most of the marathon. I walked at the aid stations and quickened my pace from 37-39k. There were lots of washrooms and aid areas and about 3-4 spots where people were giving out energy bars.
The crowd interaction was amazing! There was one point somewhere around the 10-15K mark where a large crowd of fans were holding signs and cheering loudly which motivated me to increase my pace. The positive attitude of other runners who encouraged slower ones like myself was also helpful.
It was a beautiful fall day which was close to ideal weather for a marathon and running by the water provided a scenic view. Some of the parts during the second half of the race didn’t have many runners or fans on them which made it difficult to stay mentally strong.
I did a walk/rum during the last portion and crossed the finish line shouting “woo” and cheering with my hands raised in victory!
A finisher’s medal was placed around my neck, I took another picture by the finish line, grabbed a snack, briefly listened to live music and drove home.
I finished with a 5:11:29 chip time which was around 10-15 minutes slower than my last marathon in 2017. Even though I finished close to the bottom of the roster (435th out of 495 marathoners), I’m proud of this accomplishment because my goal was just to cross the finish line.
Thoughts 