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Marine Corps Marathon (or 50k…your choice.) October 28, 2007

Posted by anton in : Race Report , 1 comment so far

Pulling out of the drive way at 4:30…I found out the exit I need to get off of, to get to the Hospitality suite of my running club, had been closed for the race…in fact just about all of the exits into Rosslyn had been closed and not being a Virginia-phile had no other options…found myself shunted into DC. Parked where I usually do for races in the District, on 23rd street and Constitution…right off the MCM course…It left me with a 2 mile walk across the Memorial Bridge and Arlington to get to Rosslyn…A beautiful morning…a walk/jog past Abe, across the bridge…some shennanigans on the other side and finally am where I need to be…
Pull myself together and get to the race start about 7:30…The usual hoopla. I am entranced watching geese fly in V’s overhead, while everyone else is watching two Osprey…the big, tilt wing aircraft common to the Marines. The Presidents Chopper flies by..many unkind words and gestures…even from the military types.
Howitzer at 8:00. Four minutes to get to the start line the crowd is so big…
The first 8 miles are hills…the up’s can be taxing and the downs, if run too fast, a huge mistake to be paid for later on in screaming quads and aching knees…After that, flat through the Mall and Monuments and the crowds…like The Tour…screaming and yelling, their energy carries you along.
Around Hain’s Point and a slog through the wind…across the 14th street bridge, into Crystal City and past the Pentagon and on to the finish…
It’s a great course, but really the real treat for me..is the people. I like to watch. The Marines with flags… the women in fishnet stockings? From Heart attacks waiting to happen and a guy in street shoes…wing tips I think. Guys who went out at 5:30’s, now shuffling at 10’s. People talking, laughing, a rolling Saturday night without the alcohol.
Some folks run MCM hard..but it is obvious that many, many don’t…that is the point for them..and for me too I guess anymore.
No physical problems..just a pleasant cruise. Easy in 4:45. A beautiful day to be outside with thirty thousand friends.
One goal I had today was to help others and I was honored to have the chance… From a pre-race garbage bag (wind protection) to several young folks who were suffering and needed a shoulder or a joke or and ear to bend…to a bag of blocks, accepted like mana.
This is my last MCM. There are too many other races to do and as the sun sets…fewer days to get them in…
Post race: A walk to the Metro finds it jammed with folks with an hour or more from door to platform…shouldering my bag, I hoof it back the way I came at 5 am. A quick wave to Abe…a moment of reflection at “The Wall,” and I’m off for home.

Reaching out

Posted by anton in : Race Report , 1 comment so far

She was walking, slow,chin on her chest…On her back was a picture of a young Marine. Pulling up along side and walking, I asked…
“Who’s picture is that?”
She started to cry.
“Is he gone?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Are you racing for him?”
Another nod.
“Will you run with me?” she said.
“Of course I will.”
She reached out and we hugged and ran together for awhile…
“I need to go now” she said and was gone, although not very far ahead.
We finished not far apart…but connected.

Space/Time and MCM October 27, 2007

Posted by anton in : Observations , 1 comment so far

I had to go back and look at my last post date before I could remember the last time I wrote here…I’ll be better, I promise.
Tomorrow is the Marine Corps Marathon and it seems like that sign up was just yesterday. Have several goals…1. To finish without feeling like I have to sit in a hot tub for two weeks. The JFK 50 miler is in three weeks and I like to go into that race feeling fresh and not beat up…John K. likes to do his pre JFK marathon earlier in October… maybe next year. 2. This year I’m going to help folks if they need it. You know, walk with someone if they seem like they are having a bad day…carry some extra food and offer it up if needed…We see lots of amps at this race and they can use a running partner sometimes…Take some of my race time and give it to others…
Time has been on my mind a lot recently. I went to the Double/Triple Ironman and was the crew for a guy who was doing the Triple…The event spun me on my head about sports and endurance and time and covering distance and understanding yourself and what limits really are.
What I felt and experienced and saw and learned during three days there is almost to personal to relate…some of it wouldn’t make any sense to those who haven’t seen it. I did learn that a Double Ironman has as much in common with Ironman as a dog does with a cat…and a Triple has as much in common with Ironman as a cat does with a lizard. To get even stranger…Doubles and Triples are about time and space both outside your head and in.
Next year…I’m there.

Race report tomorrow.