Marathon 5 is History!

Well...all the planets aligned and it was a fantastic day. About 47 degrees at start time and about 73 by finish. It was a SUPER run all the way through mile 19 but the dreaded Akron hills got the best of me. To get a good idea of this you have to see this chart:
You can see the pretty much it was uphill from about mile 14 to mile 24. It was much more than I thought it would be and the gas tanks eventually went empty. I was on pace for a 4:15:00 finish and ended up at 4:43:00. I walk/ran in the last 6 miles averaging about 13 min/mile at that point. Sad...but also very happy as a mere 10 weeks ago I set out to try this feat! My best time ever was Cincinnati (4:00:57) and worst ever was 4:47:00 (Detroit first time). I usually average 4:15-4:20.

I had two highlights on the run. The first was running with a handicap man in a wheel cycle. At Mile 18 I watched this man (about 55) wheel himself up that ridiculous hill. It was so inspirational to me personally as well as everyone around us. We cheered him on all the way to mile 22. The second was seeing Amy and the kids about about mile 23. As mentioned before...the gas was coming out of the tanks. When I saw the family...it quickly brought everything home and lifted my spirits. (here's the pic running into Amy and the kids @ mile 23)



I was sort of a grouch the previous night and felt really guilty for acting like such a weenie. The kids all ran with me! What a great way to finish. I'm so glad its over for now. I'm already plotting the next run!


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