The Blog Less Traveled

Success! And my first bucket list item bites the dust. I ran the Grand Rapids Marathon yesterday morning. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the outcome. The temperature at race time (8am) was only 29° – a little bit chilly but not too bad since there was no real wind to speak of. I don’t think the temperature got too much above 40° by the end of the race. The fall colors are almost peaking right now and the majority of the race course was along the Grand River and along several local parks. I’m not sure how much time I spent admiring the scenery but it was much better than running the entire course through town. Being my first marathon, I wasn’t quite prepared for the initial portion of the run. I started at the back of the pack and didn’t cross the starting line until over four minutes after the race started. I thought if I started at the back, I would miss all the initial jockeying around trying to get past people. That didn’t work out too well. It took me the better part of 3-4 miles before I got past everyone. I was darting left and right and jumping on and off curbs and medians to avoid and get around people. I’d say I was about six miles into the race before I felt that I had settled into a normal pace. I don’t know if I hit the “wall” during the latter part of the race, but at around 21 miles my leg muscles were starting to tighten up. I was pretty sure that if I stopped at that point, my muscles would start to really cramp up. I think it’s fair to say that the last 5-6 miles of a marathon is more mental than physical – at least for me it was. I went by all of the remaining aid stations without taking anything for those last 6 miles.

I can’t compare this marathon to any others since it was my first, but it seemed to be very well run. The race director, Don Kern, and his entire staff did a fantastic job communicating everything you needed to know. There was plenty of information on the website as well as several informal meetings leading up to the event. There were tons of drinks and goodies all along the route and many enthusiastic well-wishers to keep your spirits up. If you’re going to run a marathon for the first time, I highly recommend this one. The racing shirt and runner’s medal are very good quality and there’s plenty of post-race food and beverages – chili, frozen yogurt, cheese sticks, bagels, Gatorade, beer, etc.

In case you’re wondering, I ran the race in 3 hours, 56 minutes and 46 seconds. Below are a few names and times of fairly well known people who also ran marathons. I actually had a better time than everyone except President Bush. I’m particularly proud that I whipped Al Gore’s butt by over an hour! Plus, he was 10 years younger at the time. I’ll bet I left a smaller environmental footprint than he did, too!

• George W. Bush in 1993 (3:44:52) at age 47
• Sarah Palin in 2005 (3:59:36) at age 41
• Pittsburgh Steelers’ Lynn Swann in 1993 (4:26) at age 41
• Oprah Winfrey in 1994 (4:29:20) at age 40
• Al Gore in 1997 (4:58:25) at age 49