Marathon man

Well, I completed the Mickelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood yesterday morning - and lived to tell about it! Except for some mist in the highest elevations, conditions were close to ideal for such a long run.

I didn't know what to expect time-wise coming in because of the elevation (between 4,600 and 6,000 feet about sea level). I felt really good during the first half, which was all uphill. It was between miles 17 and 19 when my brain had to override my body. I got some food and liquids in me around mile 20, which made a world of difference. At mile 23, I was at 3 hours and 30 minutes. I figured I could pull off a sub-4:00 finishing time if I could manage 10-minute miles the rest of the way. Usually, that would be a piece of cake for me; however, the marathon isn't my usual distance.

I was at 3:40 at mile 24 and around 3:49 at mile 25. Oh, it hurt! But I had my goal, and after running so far, I didn't care if I ended up in the hospital afterward. I wanted to finish in under four hours!

The clock over the finish line read 4:00:21 when I crossed. However, that was the gun time. Thank goodness this was a chip-timed event. "My clock" didn't start until I (or, more specifically, my shoe) crossed the start line. I checked my official time before heading back to the hotel, which was...

3:59:46!!! I had a whole fourteen seconds to spare.

The craziest thing about this race is how I felt afterward. Sure, I was (am) sore, but I was in awfully good spirits. And I was downright giddy for the remainder of the afternoon.

So, that's that. Running a marathon is a major time commitment because of the training involved. And my body took a beating. But even though I'm more of a half marathoner, I won't rule out another full marathon in the future.

Special thanks to Amy, Brian C., and Daniel for their appearance at the finish line. Your presence there meant a lot!

P.S. Here's an article about the race from the Rapid City Journal. Over 2,000 runners participated!