I spent this last week jotting things down from time to time about the marathon. From my training to the trip—to the pasta dinner—to the morning of the race…blah, blah, blah. Those things were all fun for me…I loved my time with Ryan and I really enjoyed meeting Dave. But I have wanted to tell you guys about my marathon all week so I’m just going to get right into it.

When I got to the starting line I turned on my Garmin and the “low battery” signal came on. I was ticked. I had just charged it and now it was almost dead…and I didn’t bring my other watch. I really wasn’t sure what I should do. The gun went off and we were on our way. Within the 1^st mile a guy came along side of me and started talking. I told him about my Garmin and he said that he was trying to go under 3 hours, too, so we would just run together. PJ was his name.

PJ was actually training for an Ironman. I have to be honest, I didn’t think this guy had a chance to get under 3 but I was going to use him and his GPS for as long as they could hang with me. I warned PJ that I do not talk during a marathon—it wears me out—so I told him that if I stopped talking it wasn’t that I’m a snob—I’m just conserving energy. That lasted about 2 minutes.

PJ was there with his wife, their 4 young children, and his sister-in-law.   They hopped around all day to see him at various parts of the course. It was so cool to see his kids get so excited. One time as I went by I yelled, “Your dad is an animal!” His sister-in-law yelled back, “They already know that!” I just thought that was really cool, for some reason.

So, PJ and I just gabbed away as we maintained a pretty even 6:45 pace. I must have asked him 3 times a mile where we were at with time and he never got mad or irritated with me, he just looked at his watch and told me.

At about mile 10, we came up on a girl doing the half. She was looking fairly strong, but her breathing told me she was really working hard to maintain her pace. I don’t know what came over me, but all of a sudden, I felt that it was my job to get this girl to the finish. I kept encouraging her. When I felt she was slowing, I pushed her to pick it up. We turned into the wind and I told her to tuck in behind me and PJ, and some other guy who just happened to be around, and the three of us blocked the wind for her for awhile. For 3 miles I completely forgot that I was even in a race of my own and, as our courses split with her almost to the finish, I gave her one more yell to “GO! GO! GO!” About a half mile down the road, I looked at PJ and said, “Do you think we were irritating her?” PJ said, “I don’t know, but I’m sure not going to slow down with you around.”

As PJ and I continued on our way, it was becoming harder and harder for me to maintain our pace. PJ would get ahead of me during the water stops and I would work like crazy to catch up. At around the 20 mile mark I told him to not slow down for me anymore…and he didn’t.

And now, I was left on my own. I had no idea what pace I was on. I could see PJ ahead of me and I watched the 2^nd and 3^rd place women battling it out. I was trying to keep up with anybody I thought might have a chance of going under 3 hours, but pretty soon, I couldn’t keep up with anybody.

And then…around mile 25…as it became very obvious that I had completely blown this marathon…a girl came running from the sidewalk right for me. She yelled, “There you are! You saved my life earlier! Thank you so much!” It was that half marathon girl…she waited to find me to thank me! How cool was that?! I must have smiled for that entire last mile.

As I think about the Buffalo Marathon, I know that I really should have been able to go under 3 hours. I had the perfect training leading up to it…the weather was perfect…the course was great. I didn’t get under 3 hours because I wasted too much energy sharing stories with PJ and slapping PJ’s kids’ hands. I didn’t get under 3 hours because I wasted a ton of energy running “half marathon girl” into her finish.  I ran 3:04:04. If all of that cost me 4 minutes and 4 seconds…it was the best 4 minutes and 4 seconds I ever spent in a marathon.

What a cool race report!  Sounds like fun.  Hey - how did Ryan do in the half?

I loved reading your race report, Mike! Best 4 minutes I've ever spent waiting to run a race.

As I think about the Buffalo Marathon, I know that I really should have been able to go under 3 hours. I had the perfect training leading up to it…the weather was perfect…the course was great. I didn’t get under 3 hours because I wasted too much energy sharing stories with PJ and slapping PJ’s kids’ hands. I didn’t get under 3 hours because I wasted a ton of energy running “half marathon girl” into her finish.  I ran 3:04:04. If all of that cost me 4 minutes and 4 seconds…it was the best 4 minutes and 4 seconds I ever spent in a marathon.

No wonder you epitomize so many Marathon Maniacs I know, both fast and slow.

.Besides, you're a pretty dang nice guy too.

Very cool.....and so you don't need me to tell you when you're reminiscing about your marathons decades from now, this memory is going to glow a lot more warmly than a 2:58 finish.   Love this report.

...forget The Time (blasphemy)..........you just ran ThePerfectRace...........

 

and

reminded us what Running is All About.

 

...........Congratulations mike..........

And there is the truth. Well said, TomW. Great race, Mike!

Jay

MikeE - I think 3:04:04 is a pretty cool number. I always look for patterns like that and they make me smile. I'm sorry you missed your goal, but in this case, I think the positives outweigh it all. You'll run plenty of marathons, but this was the only one you ran to help HM girl, or tell PJ's kids what an animal he was. Those are priceless memories.  Good Job Mike!

All this gushy encouragement of MikeE's slacking off is making me sick.