Race Report - Heart of Wichita (Read 330 times)

I got picked up by a gal from Nebraska, but she kicked my butt in the end. This was my third marathon. I was hoping to finish under 4 hours, but mostly just wanted to finish. I started out at a nice pace at just over 8 minute miles. For the first 8 miles I was running with a group of five other runners as we made our way out of Mulvane. I slowed for drink of gatoraide when we got to McConnell airbase and the group pulled ahead of me. The route wound through the airbase under some static aircraft displays and through a yard of scapped aircraft. I was well on my way to finishing under 4 hours. Just past the halfway point I caught up with one of the runners I was running with earlier. She was walking so I offered some words of encouragement as I passed. I had left my powerbar in my duffelbag, so by mile 17 or so I was glad to have a banana as my legs began to die out on me. Some bystanders were out offering free beer. I was about to stop and have one before realizing it was probably only light beer. I ran with a rather fast guy from Winnepeg for a bit until the bridge over the interstate loomed ahead like an mountain in the distance. I gave it my all trying to keep up my running as I passed over that miserable windy bridge. As I reached the peak, I saw the route head South into another residential neighborhood away from the finish line and my tired legs pretty much collapsed. I coasted down the bridge and into the neighborhood and somewhere around 21 miles I slowed to what would have been my final walk. Just then I heard a voice behind me telling me that I could still finish under 4 hours. It was the girl I was running with earlier who I had seen walking. She was running pretty slow so I stayed with her for about 2 miles until here legs cramped up. I knew finishing under 4 hours was a lost cause at that point, but I continued mostly running until mile 25.5. She passed me again somewhere before the finish, but I was pretty much roadkill by then. I shuffled over the finish line around 4:10. It wasn't under 4 hours, but without that last push at the end it would have been longer. So, thank you gal from Nebraska whose name I didn't quite catch in my exhausted stupor.

We all know that feeling of being roadkill at the end of a marathon! It takes fortitude to tough it out and keep running when you feel that way. Well done.