All those nagging questions from my running friends. What happened? You did the Flying Pig Marathon in 3:22 on May 2 and the Wilmington Delaware Marathon in 4:55 (I think) on May 16th. Is that possible??. Did you die along the way, was it extremely hot or did you lose your mind and break your body by doing two Marathons in three weeks. The answer is none of the above. Here is what really happened.
Kim Davidson and I showed up Sunday morning May 16th and picked up our race numbers before the start. This was so easy it is hard to believe for a marathon. The race field was less than 500 runners plus a bunch of relay teams. The course was 4 loops with two nice out and back sections each loop so you got to see your friends or in my case a lot of Kim's friends from Florida. Diane Latham was also there running and Harry was rooting us on and shooting pictures along the course.
When the race started I felt good and was within site of the lead group (or should I say runner) most of the first loop. I found out later the leader was a member of a relay team. I ran under 8 minute pace through two loops but it was humid and my legs were a little dead so I slowed to a little over 8 minute miles towards the end of the second loop. My time I think was 1:50 or something for the half way. I was pretty relaxed as I did not track the mile splits which is totally different than the focused keep the pace attitude I had in the Flying Pig. But hey this run was just for fun.
The heat seemed to slow me a little more on the third loop so I though I would wait for Kim and Diane to see what was happening before I started the last loop. Actually I planned on stopping after the third loop to stand around and drink beer while everyone finished. I stood there for what seemed like a long time and drank a little over 16 oz of beer. (a cup and one can).
Finally Diane and Kim appear so I jog down to join them for the end of their third loop. Here is where the real fun began. It seems Diane was having stomach problems and Harry suggested that she just walk the last loop to get her finishers medal. Walking the last loop seemed like a good idea to me so I ran ahead and got two beers out of a volunteers cooler and gave one to Kim as we began the last loop.
Diane's stomach was a mess. About a mile into the loop she evacuated her stomach in the bushes. Kim was amazed at how much fluid came out as Diane did it in true projectile vomit format. It's like that is all Kim could talk about for about 5 minutes. Hey it's only gator aid held in the stomach until it was time to evacuate it. Harry came up to check on Diane. He then ran off showing up later with a coke to help calm Diane's stomach. He ran with the cup covered with a paper towel to keep the coke from spilling out. What a guy, he sure takes support crew to another level.
Well as we continue everyone along the course noticed we were having a great fun-loving time walking and drinking beer. They seemed baffled that we were so happy and were even more confused because two of use were carrying a beer. With about 4 miles to go I saw Chuck from Florida and offered him part of my beer. I was hopping he wouldn’t drink it but he took at least one swallow. Thankfully later Kim still a little beer in her can and she offered to let me finish it.
With about 2.5 miles to go Diane starts running again. Of course I didn't want to ruin a good time so I kept walking and talking with everyone along the course. A lot of people passed us in the next mile and half. Then Kim comes up with the brainy idea and says "hey we can break 5 hours if we run the rest of the way". So we started running. As we took the first few steps the legs got loose and we ran faster and faster. I am sure we drove a lot of other runners nuts since we were clipping along and talking as we passed who knows how many people in the last mile.
Well got the finish medal. The legs did not feel like I covered a marathon. In retrospect I think that running in the last mile really loosened the legs up. The legs were not seriously sore or stiff and didn't require going down steps backwards. All in all a very fun day.
If the spirit moves me next year I may try to run a quick time on this course since it is so runner friendly with no major hills.