We drove to Richland, WA on Saturday and arrived in the early afternoon to check into our hotel, which was very nice. Shortly after we ate at the hotel where they had a pasta dinner designed for the runners. I basically then went to bed…that night seemed to last forever. I dozed off as the Red Sox pounded the Rockies in Game 3 around 9:30…it felt like midnight. I woke up at 2:00am for an hour and then woke up for good at 6:15am and started my pre-race routine.
Breakfast…bowl of Special K, banana, juice, half a power bar and vitamins. Then at about 7:30 one small boiled red potato. The rest of my diet over the course of the race would consist of 6 packs of vanilla Gu, 16 ounces of Accelerade, 8 ounces of Vitamin Water (Charge), about 8 ounces of Gatorade and about 16 ounces of water.
It was a beautiful day, clear and no wind…but cool…in the low 30s when we started at 8:00am. It would warm up to the mid 40s by the end of the race, but I was glad to have on long sleeves and gloves along with my running hat and sunglasses. I used my son's Blue "Superman" gloves.
I ran with my friend from Portland. He and his wife arrived earlier on Saturday to watch the Ducks pound USC in college football. Boise St. had rolled over Fresno St. on Friday night so I had no similar concerns.We left the hotel to warm up a little after 7:30 but wound up getting a little frazzled while making our final preparations and pretty much showed up right at the start time…and I wasn’t paying attention to our wives that were trying to film us as I set up on the other side of the street…so you won’t see any video of us taking off. I was nervous…give me a break.
We took off as everyone cheered and rushed down the street. A couple minute in I noticed our pace was a little quick as we were being pulled in by all the enthusiasm of those around us…so we slowed up a bit to the pace we wanted to run the first couple miles to get properly warmed up…it was cold. Our timing goal was basically to run a 9-minute/mile marathon…26.2 miles would make a final time of 3 hours 55 minutes 48 seconds…so there was a little cushion for our overall goal of a sub-4-hour marathon.
After the first 2 miles we were about 38 seconds above that which is about where we planned to be and then we wanted to be on pace by about mile 8. We were able to run around the 9-minute pace for the most part. We sped up to 8:44 in mile 4 and 8:42 in mile 7 and so by mile 8 we were now 2 seconds ahead of pace…just like we planned. How do I know all this? My handy dandy Garmin GPS watch!
My legs felt really good. The pain I had during the last few weeks of training was gone and we were having a good time running together…somebody to talk to was nice.
To this point we hadn’t seen our wives yet…until we crossed the Blue Bridge.
We had run from Richland to Pasco and were now crossing the Columbia River to Kennewick. I could see our white Expedition down on the other side and we started to wave to them…it was a big rush to see them. They were then able to follow us for about the next 5 miles and snap some photos and take some video. My son also ran out to us a few times to give us a high 5!
Before we hit the turn around at mile 12, we were both starting to feel some aches as I recall. I was feeling just some tiring below my kneecaps. I was also thinking that we still had a long way to go. We ran a fast 12th mile to try to shake out the cobwebs 8:36 pace. At the halfway point of mile 13 we were right on track…8 seconds ahead of pace!
In mile 16 we crossed back over to Pasco over the Cable Bridge…it was a steady uphill over the bridge and began to take its toll on me. My friend #287 ran ahead of me while I #316 concentrated on keeping my legs moving until the eventual downhill on the other side. I slowed to 9:16 that 
mile. Now we were at our furthest point from the start and it was a straight 10 miles back down the Columbia River to Richland and the finish…that seemed a long ways away…well…it was a long ways away.
We were still running together which made it bearable as both of us noted fatigue was setting in. we were getting close to running for 3 hours now. We slowed again in mile 18 to 9:15, but made it to mile 20 only 33 seconds behind our goal pace…not too shabby! This was the furthest each of us had run in training…so now the mental challenge of uncharted waters would add to our fatigue level.
Between mile 20 and mile 21 my friend started to fade back while I tried to keep pace and encouraging him to stay with me…but it wasn’t to be. Now we each had our own race to run and our own battles and aches to overcome. I just kept running…I don’t remember much from here. At the beginning of the race we were noticing scenery and the huge houses along the waterfront. All I remember from mile 20 is looking at the ground and making sure I drank enough water.
I ate my Gu (great stuff, you should try some) about every 4.5 miles during the race so my last pack went down about mile 22 with the hope it would give me the final energy I needed to finish.
I remember over the last 5 miles or so seeing a lot of people hit the wall as I passed by. It was a picture of fatigue I had in my head before the race that would happen to me but I had hoped it wouldn’t be until after I finished. I remember running behind a few people and you could see them struggle to keep running and then give up and have to walk. I felt fortunate to be able to keep running. I had read in a magazine that if you pass people towards the end of a race you should encourage them…so I would just say, “we’re almost there…keep going” or “you’re doing great” as I went by.
When I reached mile 23 I knew I was going to make it…don’t ask me why. I guess I just knew from my training that I could do anything for 3 miles. At that point I was 51 seconds behind my goal pace but well ahead of being able to finish in under 4 hours…now I just wanted to run as fast and as steady as I felt I could without getting hurt…so I put my music on my favorite songs…put my head down…and went.
I ran mile 24 in 8:47 so I gained a little time, but then mile 25 started with an uphill round-a-bout to an overpass we ran along. I remember thinking, “You have got to be kidding me.” I was tired and now had to run uphill…I just tried to keep my legs moving at the same pace even though they were taking much shorter steps. That uphill slowed me to an 11 to 12 minute pace for that small stretch. The good news is once I made it to the top I was able to build up speed and eventually a 6:45 pace on the downhill. I ran mile 25 in 8:44 and was now only 22 seconds behind pace. Only 1 mile left…oh yeah, I can do 1 mile in my sleep.
I ran like Forest Gump to a box of chocolates. During the last half mile there was a lady sitting in her front yard ringing a cowbell as runners came by…awesome! About a half a mile from the finish I passed one guy who stopped to walk…I said, “Come on….we’re close.”
At this point I was out of Gu and all of my liquids…but I was almost done. I ran mile 26 in 7:58 and the last 0.2 miles at about 7:30 pace…right through the finish where Miss Tri-Cities was handing out the finishing medals…I did it. 3 hours 55 minutes later I had run my first marathon and it was exhilarating…and I didn’t even collapse from complete exhaustion!
My friend finished in 4 hours and 4 minutes just missing his sub-4-hour goal but still a great time. The average marathon time in the U.S. last year was 4 hours 21 minutes…just a little fact I heard from Cliffy from Cheers. What that means, though, is he wants to try another one so he can break 4 hours…so guess who said he would run it with him?
Well, that was the big day…oh one more thing…I got 3rd place in the men 35 to 39 age group! How about them apples!
