My First Marathon

I had a great weekend, with a trip to cheer on my friend's daughter in the Hamptons Marathon.  This was D's second marathon - the previous one was five years ago - and since it was in my old stomping grounds her mother and I decided to go cheer her on.  She had just barely exceeded five hours on the first one, so beating that was her goal.

D was running as part of a team that was raising money for the "B+" (Be Positive) foundation, a charity that supports the families of children with cancer. As part of the team, she had transportation, a place to stay, dinner the night before, and a support group.  Kathy and I were able to feel part of that same team, even joining them all for a lovely dinner the night before the race at Gurney's in Montauk, a legendary spot I had never actually been to before.

It was fun feeling part of the team and cheering her on. This whole scene of athletic folks is not a culture I've traveled in before.  I felt good about my little 5Ks and found this overall very motivating. I still have no desire to run a marathon - its just too much punishment.  But I definitely have the urge to run more and faster and farther than I have been doing.

We had to get up absurdly early to make the 8 am start. But we did.  We saw D who was a bit jittery and connected with her husband, who had gotten a ride from the hotel and thus no transport around the course.

I had studied the map of the circuitous course and had figured out some places we could see D and cheer her on. Of course the road for the start and the finish was closed, but we weren't sure what other roads would be closed.  The mass of runners start out all together, but they split apart after a while and so traffic was allowed to proceed at the same time.

After the start, we set off (via car) for breakfast, and got held up at what turned out to be the five mile mark. We turned off the car and D's husband walked up and saw D and cheered her on, before coming back as the police started to meter cars through.  After breakfast, we drove to the furthest part of the course, where there was one intersection where they passed through three times - between miles 10-11, 12-13, and 14-15.

There were water stations there and we got into handing off cups of water to the runners as they passed by. It was something to do, and the runners seemed to really appreciate it.

This was a relatively small race - "only" 2,500 people (most did the half, not the full marathon) so it was relatively intimate, and we saw the same people over and over.  We saw some of the team members from the B+ group and always cheered loudly for them.

After "our" runner passed the intersection for the second time, she texted back saying her iphone battery was dying, and could her mother please download a certain app so she could have it for when her phone gave out. (Use of the GPS is a well-known iphone battery suck.) As it turns out, I had an iphone booster battery on me which was fully charged, and so when she came back for the third time, between miles 14-15, she chose that instead.  Yay!  I was helping!  I know I can't imagine running without tunes to keep pace to, and she had also a specific app she was using for her pacing and intervals.  I hoped the extra battery would last the remaining time.

We made our way to mile 20, which was near the finish line, and saw the much more sparse and spread-out runners.  The day was grey, and at points a fine drizzle was falling, Some of the runners were clearly really fatigued, but D seemed in great spirits.

So then it was off to the finish line. The announcer was calling off the name of each finisher, often with a little tidbit about them:  "This is his first ever marathon" or "His goal was to beat five hours".  We were so happy when we saw D, and I felt like I been part of something great as she crossed the finish line fifteen minutes faster than her previous time.

After the race, D changed out of wet clothes and headed back to her hotel for a shower. Kathy and I went sightseeing, and then met up for the post race party.  There was free food - four different kinds of pasta! - and sparse drink, but then we had a light early dinner at the bar next door. I marvelled at D's endurance and humor. She said overall she was tired, and a few specific parts hurt, and she needed to keep moving to not stiffen up.  Her husband took her off to the hotel with a stop for some bags of ice and apparently was planning to keep her immersed in ice water.

I have no desire to go the distance, but it still was really motivating and I am looking forward to a bit more of a jog tomorrow.