Though it's been three weeks since I ran in my very first real marathon (half marathons are fake marathons because, well, they're half a marathon) I can still remember it like it was yesterday, except my legs don't hurt so much anymore since I've had a chance to rest up. But let's go back to the beginning, shall we. January 7th, 2014, I decided I needed to make a REAL New Year's resolution. Despite being a week into the new year, I made the goal to start running. More specifically, I made the goal to run in a half marathon that year. I spoke to my friend Andy and he had recently been bit by the running bug, and then with Aaron who had bit long ago but had recently recovered from his 'running fever', we all decided to do a half marathon together. A couple other friends joined us as well, and so was started TEAM HUNTINGDON! Our motto: Choose To Run (CTR). We even made shirts. Okay too soon for that. This first half marathon was no shirts. I mean we wore shirts, just not custom made. That was later. The first half marathon we did was in Selsdon, southeast London suburbs. A member of the LDS church down there organizes it every year to be on a Saturday for those who don't want to run on Sundays which is when most races are. Anyway, we did the race and loved it and so the journey began.
Aaron and Andy were crazy from the get-go and they ended up going all out and signing up for a couple marathons while I stuck to half ones. Finally, in late December they "talked" me into signing up for the "UK's toughest marathon" to be held in the mountains of Wales on October 24th, 2015. Registration opened up on midnight on January 1st. I waited until 3 January to sign up, after Andy and Aaron said they signed up first thing on the 1st. Not to be though. All 2500 spots for this marathon were filled within 48 hours. I was the slow turtle who hesitated and lost out. NO, I told myself I was going to find a way to do this race. I found out that a local cancer charity hosts a number of runners every year, so I didn't hesitate to sign up. They would give me an entry to the race; I just had to pledge to raise £300 ($500). No problem. I get to run a race and at the same time help others in need. My fundraising was all online, and I found it wasn't as easy as I thought. It took the entire time to the day of the race to raise £299.96. So close! The next day someone donated another £15 and put us over the top. All along, though, it wasn't about the money. There were two things that kept me going through my training. 1) friends, depending on how hard they pushed me. They encouraged and pushed me to keep going. I would not have signed up for this marathon on my own. And 2) I was motivated by the thought of those who would benefit from my fundraising. The moment I received that first donation, I refused to back down. That idea kept me going during my training and definitely came in later during the actual run.
Fast forward to October 24th, race day. Snowdonia! Wales! Cold, wet and VERY rainy. The most valuable thing they had in the welcome bags was a poncho.
Here we are excited and ready to go. Strange, the exhilaration we felt (and shared) before the race you'd think it was Christmas Eve. Runners are crazy.
Those invaluable parkas.
I brought along my own support team. They were there to see me off despite the yucky weather.
Okay, so this is where all photos stop, because I didn't take any pictures while during the race. It wasn't terribly convenient to do so. Here's one from the website you might appreciate though. And then when you actually run the thing you learn to RESPECT the mountain. Let me tell you about this race. We all started together well enough, and we jogged along, even chatting and goofing around a bit as we went up the first long incline. Soon one of the guys (we'll call him A1 cuz he's the oldest) slowed down a bit and us other two kept going. That's the rule by the way. No matter how many times you tell each other you are going to stick together, everyone's racing pace is different and barring any major issues (like death) you just keep on going. So anyway, me and A2 now were together from mile 4.5 until let's say about 15 when going up another steep hill, I slowed down a bit (i.e. walked a little) while he kept going. That was the last I saw of him during the race. And now I was all alone (except for all the other strangers running past me). I can't recall, but I think the rain had officially stopped by this point. I'm not sure because I was drenched and cold so it didn't really matter anyway. And it's not like the sun was coming out anytime soon.
From then on, my will to survive was slowly diminishing. My legs felt like lead and my body like fire. And despite my well-stocked belt full of sugar, energy drinks and baby food (yup, that's what I packed) I felt totally and utterly drained of all energy. So, I walk-jogged the best I could until mile 22. At that point, I felt no shame in walking, along with everyone else around me, straight up the final mountain. There were one or two show-offs who actually jogged up the mountain, but for me, walking was the only option. Sadly, even my walking was too slow because all the others walked right on past me. I admit, I just wanted to lie down and quit. But then I would pass a group of spectators and they would all shout out "Go Robert! You're almost there!" Though I knew they were just reading my name off my number bib, it still felt like they were cheering just for me and if I wasn't so exhausted I might even have cried. (I didn't so we'll never know) And here is where A1 found me. He had carried on through the entire race, and probably because I was going sooooo slow at this point, he caught up to me about mile 23.5, and I was glad to see him. He came up to me and literally put his arm around my back and for a few seconds he pushed me along. Then he broke the marathoner's code. He stayed with me for the rest of the race. He could easily have passed me and gained an extra 30 minutes on me. But he stayed with me (he probably thought if he didn't I was going to die, and that would be difficult to explain to my wife later). And together we kept moving, eventually cresting the mountain at mile 24.5, and then it was (literally) all downhill from there. Oh sweet mercy! Oh, I didn't mention that from mile 24 to mile 25.5 it was just mud and rocks and sludge and puddles and slippery grass and sheep poo. We were so wet though, we didn't care anymore. We just ran right through those puddles and carried on.
Back to my fan base. They went to a castle in the meantime (they had plenty of time), but they tracked me online. When I had about an hour left (based on my pace at the time) they went to the finish line to wait. They saw A2 pass by strong and triumphant at 4 hrs 30 min. But it was another hour before A1 and I made it. I felt (a little) bad because they had to stand in the cold for longer than they anticipated.
And here we are together, A1 and me. Yay!!! Ouch!!!
Katya and Alex jumped out of the crowd as we passed and ran alongside us the last 100 meters.
And then it was over. By the way, those silver blankets are effective. And stylish. Blame it on the hallucinations, but I remember when I was about 2 miles before finishing, I saw some previous finishers walking back wearing those blankets and all I could think was "I want one".
After the race, and when I could walk again, we went back to the van and got ready to go. But things were a bit slow. I was completely and utterly exhausted and fatigued. I didn't want to eat anything, and it was difficult to talk. Lyana was suspicious (and so was some random tattooed guy who seemed genuinely concerned about how poorly I looked so he kept asking me how I felt and if I wanted to go to the medic's tent). In the end, I consented and Lyana and the kids took me to the medics who evaluated me and found I was quite low on sugar (very hypoglycemic). So they gave me some nasty dextrose in a tube and some crisps (yup). 15 minutes later I actually felt great and we were on our way.
Back at the cabin we had slow-cooked beef roast and potatoes waiting, and dinner did not disappoint.
Will I run another marathon? On October 25th I said absolutely not. Today, maybe. But it will be flat (or all downhill). No more mountain marathons for a while. I am doing a half on March 19th along the southern English coast though, near the cliffs of Dover. Any of you runners ought to come out and join me. You'll be glad you did.
Rob
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