Columbus denied the earth being flat.
Obviously, he never ran the Columbus Marathon.
We woke at 5:45 Sunday morning in Nichole's brother Franko's Apt. I was able to focus on the basic race morning ritual despite my Cleveland sports fan sense of impending doom. I had a bagel w/PB, a banana, and a cup of coffee. We climbed into the volvo and headed towards the center of our state capital. We arrived at 7 and parked next to the finish a few blocks north of the start.
The start was located at the capital building and port-a-johns were a plenty for the sold out field of 10,000. I had never run a race this big, and was excited by the mass of runners. Nichole was ready to begin her first 1/2 marathon, whilst Zac and Max found a spot to wonder where we had been swallowed into the crowd.
As the start of the race approached, Nichole and I rambled on in silly banter and watched as 3 black hawk helicopters flew in formation following the anthem. I am always a bit freaked out by military displays like this as I see it as a flexing of the federal muscle.
Anyhow, the horn blew and we were off...........Well, we would have to wait a few minutes to cross the start. We went out with the 8:45 group. The two of us stayed together for 6 miles before the 1/2 and full split. Pace was a little hard to find, so we just stuck with a decent effort(9:15 or so) .
Early in the race, I removed my cotton gloves and dropped my red Ironman bracelet. Nichole saw me drop it and went back to get it. She went against the current of runners and retrieved the bracelet I had received during the IM marathon. The scene was very surreal. I thought it ironic that I almost lost my IM marathon bracelet(used to signify completion of lap 1) during a marathon.
The first half is mostly through wealthy neighborhood and under the cover of shade tree's. The temps were cool at the start, but the predictions to hit 80 was looming. We took in fluids at each aid station and listened to the war stories of all the Chicago runners who came to finish what they had started.(the Chicago marathon course was closed midrace due to heat and the inability to provide water).
At 6 miles the halfers split off and I wished Nichole well. I began running with an Ironman who had done IMKY this year. We spent a few miles together and split later at an aid station.
At the halfway point, I was feeling good, and took down my 2nd gel. At about mile 17, just past the OSU campus, I started running with a chi-town runner named Arron. We pushed eachother through the wall near 20 and found new life at 22. The final 4 miles we slowed a little bit as the sun was really heating up and shade was no where to be found. I maintained a steady focus . CTCer Adam was out rooting club members at 24. with .2 miles left we pressed to the finish line at 4:25:10.
Overall I had a great race. It was my best marathon since I last ran Columbus in '99. I could have used one more gel. Aside from that, I ran well. Walking only at aid stations and stopping twice to use the loo, I never gave into the part of my mind that says "go ahead and walk a little". I met some nice folks on the course, and really appreciate the job Columbus has done with the race. The course is flat and the scenery is nice. The bands, crowd and volunteer crew were great. It was a really nice event.
Nichole finished her first half in 2:12:10. We held our pace within a second of each other through the remainder of the race. Today she stated "I want to go faster". I have no doubt that she can BQ soon.
Zac and Max were a great crew(max is pictured above with Nichole and I). We were all hungry, and headed to the Olive Garden for lunch.
After work today, I hopped a bus for Lake County. I met up with my friend Annie, and we went into downtown Willoughby to find a place on Vine that had a good reputation. I gave the artist Joe my design and some dollars. We picked out a spot on my lower calf and the fun began.
