St. Jude Marathon

An event we've had on the calendar all fall finally arrived this past weekend. Rebecca and I participated in the St. Jude's Half Marathon. David and Emily invited us to come along for the weekend, so we decided to run it with them. A good many of our friends and my brother also signed up so it ended up being a large MSU group in attendance.

Rebecca and I gave ourselves most of Friday off so we could get up to Memphis. We arrived around 5 at Emily's mom's house. She was again such a gracious host to us. When the rest of the crew arrived we headed downtown to pick up our race packets. Everything went very smoothly and we got in and out. Matt met us at the convention center. We then went to Macaroni Grill to get the standard pre-race pasta dinner. Matt stayed with Loren's brother so we dropped him off after dinner. On a side note, there are two Macaroni Grill's in Memphis in case you were wondering.

Race day began at 5:45 AM. The girls rejoiced again at their Panera Bread breakfast. The weather for the day was absolutely perfect. It started out in the upper 50s and overcast. Not too hot and not too cold.  I went with just t-shirt and shorts. Most people who dressed too warmly had ditched their extra clothes in the first mile. By the time everyone finished, the sun came out providing that extra warmth for standing still bodies. We left for downtown around 6:30. The race started at 8. Most everyone there must have had pre-race jitters as indicated by the crowds around the porta-potties. Both races were sold out so there were about 10,000 runners along with their supporters. I lost Rebecca early on as I went to check our bag and she headed to the starting line. I started in the pace group to do the half in 2 hours or the full in 4 hours. This is the same pace I did my full marathon back in 2006, so half the distance at the same speed. As you can tell, I didn't really put in the same amount of training as last time. The race got started and my group didnt' start until 9 minutes later due to staggered starts. Having to recalculate my time at every race clock I saw helped to keep my mind distracted. The atmosphere of a big event like this helps so much to keep you motivated. There were very large crowds for the first couple of miles and it was such a neat experience having everyone cheer you on. We also got to run through the St. Jude hospital complex which reinforced the whole point of the event as you saw families and friends of the cancer patients cheering and thanking you.

Course Map

My problematic knee held up until about mile 5 when it started it aching. That was really the only problem I had until the mile 11 drink station. I tried to drink while running and ended up choking on the water. I spit it all out and almost threw up. Fortunately I pulled out of the spasm and kept going. The last couple miles I could feel my legs getting weak and my whole body slightly aching. Needless to say I was glad I was only doing the half when we split courses during mile 13. The race finished at Autozone Park. You entered through the outfield wall and ran along the left field warning track to the finish line on the first base side. It was great coming into the stadium, hearing your name on the PA, and crossing the finish line. You forget about all the pain for a minute. I met my goal of two hours and finished with a time of 1:50:05. Afterwards I always seem to think I could have done better, but I was happy with my time. Results

After I finished I wanted to go get my camera and take pictures as the others crossed the finish line. Once you left the field area they weren't letting you back on. I decided to try it anyways. I got my bag from the bag check area and started back down the stands. One lady immediately came after me. I talked my way past her to the next guy, but he wasn't budging. I told him I wanted to be down there when my wife finished, but much like Monty Python's black knight, he stood strong with his orders of "none shall pass." I haven't figured out the reason why they were so adamant about not letting you back on so I stood there frustrated for a few minutes. I decided I had paid enough money to see my wife, brother, and friends cross the finish line and get a picture of them. So I stood on the first row of the bleachers away from the Barney Fife's and waited for them to look away and just slipped over the wall. David made it as well. Amazingly, the race went on unaffected even though we had broke this major piece of protocol. We took up our spots in the outfield as the runners came in through the outfield wall and got pictures of them. Everyone made it in varying states of pain. All the girls had found running/walking buddies to keep them company. Rebecca, who planned on walking the majority of it, had a great time walking with Emily's sister Sarah. Unlike everyone else the soreness did not hit Rebecca until the next day. That next morning I told her it was about time she started hurting. Matt did the full and had a blazing time of 3:05:46. He met his goal of 3:10:00 and I believe qualifies for the Boston Marathon.  I asked him how this compared to the Half Ironman and he said he "felt much worse after this one," which surprised me. We all hung out on the field for a while. Unfortunately Rebecca got trapped behind the "Great Wall of Memphis" and couldn't sneak back past the guard. We exited through the food line downing some pizza which felt like it was consumed by my body before it even reached my stomach.

Megan

Emily

Taylor

Rebecca and Sarah

Matt

Kelsey

We all hobbled out to the car (except Rebecca) and went back to the house to relax for the rest of the day. Overall it was a great day. The atmosphere of the race was great and hopefully all the raised money will benefit some kids. After I did the full marathon I told myself I probably wouldn't do another full. The half is just long enough to be quite challenging but not overwhelming like the full. If I can get my knee back to full speed I wouldn't mind doing these more often.