Philadelphia Marathon Race Report

Where do I even start?!  I took off of work on Friday to head to the expo and I am glad I did.  I hear it was mobbed on Saturday.  My sister went over with me and joked that she was shopping at a running expo and she hates running!  I saw tons of stuff I could have bought but I contained myself.  As for Philly marathon merchandise, I bought my boys "Future Runner" shirts and myself a mug.  I really did not want to spend the money on a shirt or something to wear until I ran the marathon.  I knew if I did not finish it for some reason, I would never wear the clothing I purchased. 

Yes, I was a dork and brought my camera to the expo!

My awesome brother and sister in law sent me flowers on Friday from my niece and nephew!  Made me cry!

Race Day

We were up at 4:30ish and left the house around 5.  We did not have to leave as early as we did but we were able to park in a close garage.  If I do this race again next year, we will still leave that early.  I was told just 30 minutes later and the roads were backed up and parking garages were already closed.  John and I just hung around the art museum area.  I had a banana and some peanut butter and ate that around 6. 

He left me around 6:15 to head back to the car to get his bike.  I chatted with some other runners and then made my way to my corral.  They were very prompt in starting the race.  I crossed the start line right about 7:25. 

I was surprised when I saw John right at the start.  Here is a quick wave at the start!

I saw my father in law right around mile 1.  John said he got to his dad right after I passed him.  I was feeling really good!  My pace per mile for the first 9 miles was anywhere from 10:38 to 11:21.  There was a decent hill at miles 9/10 that slowed my pace down but mile 10 was still 11:40.  Right after the hill peaked I saw a guy wearing a shirt that said "Running for my wife."  I had a feeling I knew of this guy so I took my chances and asked if he worked at TD Bank.  Sure enough I was right, it was Bill!  He works with my sister in law and he lost his wife this past summer.  He ran the half and we chatted as we ran the next few miles together.  It was a good distraction after that hill!  Let me back up a few miles!  I saw Amy, my BFF (I always cringe at that!) around mile 7.  I was told she might be there but I was not supposed to know that.  She was in the middle of a hill on the Drexel campus.  She told me her husband lived on campus and she knew that was a tough hill.  She said she knew that was where she needed to be.  I stopped for a second to give her a hug and tell her I love her.  She smacked my butt and yelled "get up that hill Chach!"  It is amazing I was able to get up that hill after seeing her!  I was hyperventilating thanks to my emotions.  Shortly after that I saw my parents, my sister, and my father in law.  I think I saw John before seeing them again.  I am really not sure, everything is running together right now!

Here are a few more pictures John was able to snap!




The energy level was amazing!




I think this was around mile 6/7

So back to mile 13.  I was still running with Bill and trying to get him to run the full with me!  I had no luck and had to say goodbye to him at the split!

I was dreading this sign something fierce!  I was so tempted to head to the finish line but felt such a sense of pride to go to the left and continue on to Mile 14!

Right past this sign I saw my awesome family again!!



There was not much smiling after this!





This was right after I ran past my family.  A guy yelled "Run Meggan, you got this baby!"  I think I ran a mile just on that!



In a way, it was all downhill after mile 13!  The rest of the marathon course takes the runners out to Manayunk.  It is a very lonely run!  Because of road closures, it is very difficult for spectators to get out here.  I really had to dig deep to keep moving a few times.  I ran the first half with a desperate need to go to the bathroom.  I did not stop because the lines at all the water stops were crazy long.  I knew the course would thin out after the halfway point so I waited.  This killed me!  I stopped at mile 16 and lost 6 minutes according to my Garmin.  I was ok with that.  My problem was getting my legs moving again.  I just could not get my pace back to what it was.  Miles 17-26 were in the 12 and 13 minutes. 

Like I said in my previous post, I did run the whole marathon!  I walked a few water stops and walked 2 or 3 times to untwist the lid on my water bottle.  Other than that, I ran!  I actually felt as though the little walking I did to drink hurt more than the running did. 

Mile 17...Hello wall!  It was terrible.  My mind just started to wander.  This is where a running buddy would have been very nice.  I had myself convinced I am a terrible mother and I was doing everything wrong with my boys.  It was a very dark few miles!  Somewhere around mile 19, I saw a team member from my Tri club.  I have actually know this woman since I was 8 years old.  She ran past me in the other direction and told me that I was about 1/2 mile from the tri club ladies that came out to support us.  Just seeing Lisa on the course helped me but seeing those 4 women got me over that wall!  And then I was in Manayunk.  The spectators were crazy there, very high energy!  Unfortunately I could not finish the marathon in Manayunk.  I had to run the 6 miles back to the finish line.  I saw the lovely ladies one last time and then the course got very lonely again.  Don't get me wrong, there were runners around me but no one was chatty. 

I got to the point where I could not even talk to the spectators or volunteers.  Our first names were on the bib numbers and that was incredible!  It was so nice to hear people cheer specifically for ME!  The last five miles all I could do was raise my arm some to wave to show my appreciation.  I remember a man standing between markers 24 and 25.  He told me that I just had to run 3/4 of a mile and then there were plenty of spectators to get me to the finish!  I think that is what got me to the finish line. 

About 1/4 mile from the end I saw my friend Karin.  She told me she would throw stuff at me if I started walking!  It was so nice to see a friend that close to the end.  I wish I could be at her first marathon but I don't think a trip to Disney in January is in my future. 

And the next thing I knew, I was at the finish line!!

I am happy with my first marathon.  I did not have a real time goal in mind.  I would have loved to finish in under 5 hours but I knew that was very ambitious.  I am happy with my time.  I am happy I ran the whole thing.  I am happy I can now say I ran a marathon. 

Will there be a second?  Of course!  I cannot wait to train and run a second marathon.  I have said all along that I did not think this would be my only marathon.  I definitely have some work to do before I run my second one.  I do know it will be in 2011 but most likely another fall marathon. 

My mind is still all over the place regarding yesterday.  I have a few more blog posts in mind and will get to them over the next few days.

A big thank you to everyone who believed in me!