There were pretty good crowds appreciating the racers. There were not as many bands as I had hoped for. Maybe the marathoners would have more on the second part of the course. Both races ran the same route for the first 11.25 miles. Any time a spectator or cheer squad would call out your name, it gives a little jolt of adrenalin! One time a young woman called out "Art, I love you!" I never had that happen in a race before! Another time, I passed an official TNT cheer and one of them yelled "I've been to your museum!" I realized that she was someone I met in the elevator the other day, and when when were exchanging names I told her "Art, there's a museum named after me." Sometimes people think I am saying my name is Mark or even Hart. I was impressed with her memory.
The race course went down Broadway and looped away from downtown. At one point, it doubled back on itself, and I was able to see several Virginia teammates going the opposite way. That was really great! This continued for several miles - people running back in the opposite direction like a mighty river flowing to the sea. I ran into Coach Chuck during this part of the race. We were running through neighborhoods and people were out in force with a really festive atmosphere. There were so many racers that it meant constantly being alert to pass people - I passed a ton of people out there for the first 10 miles - and to be passed. It would be so easy to trip over someone.
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At about mile seven, I had a tough time. My non-run sports sunscreen sweated into my eyes. It burned like hell! I stopped running and went to a slow (for me) walk, barely able to see. My eyes were practically whelled shut, and tears were pouring down my face. My nose started running like a fountain from the irritation. I am sure people were thinking "That poor man is in so much pain that he is crying!" This went on for about three-fourths of a mile, then all the tears started to clear my eyes. At about that point, a family had a little water table set up in their yard and I took a cup and flushed my eyes out and was fine from that point.
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At about mile 8, we passed Belmont University on the return route, specifically the Presidential debate site. That was so cool! If you followed my fund-raising campaign, you know I taylored it after the McCain - Obama race, and this was such a cool tie-in on the actual race day!
I was a little dissapointed at the small number of bands, but this one was GREAT! I could have stayed and watched them for a while, drinking a cold beer. But I kept running.
Speaking of music, these guitars were pretty cool, so I had to stop and snap a photo:
At about 8.5 miles, the route was finally reaching a point where we were no longer repeating itself. I really liked this statue, which was one of the things that I saw at the start of the section where the route doubled back:
By this point, I knew my pace was slower than I had hoped for. The incident with the sunscreen and my eyes had knocked a couple of minutes off, but I was walking more and more. I ran about 80% of the first 6 miles, but was now walking about 50% - not counting mile 7 where I walked most of it in my near blindness. It was just so hot! We had been training, with a few exceptions, in fairly cold weather. I felt like I would just move as much as I could and enjoy the experience, so that is what I continued to do. At about mile 10.5, I was snapping a photo and a lady asked if I wanted my photo taken:
AT mile 11.25, the King himself was directing traffic! The King lives! "Marathoners to the left, half-marathoners to the right! Thank you, thank you very much!"
For a couple of months, I had wondered what I would feel when I reached this point. Would I regret my decision to only run the half? Would I be tempted to run the full marathon for a split second? Would I get wild and crazy and actually take the left hand split? What I felt was relief! I was so hot and so glad that I was not doing 15 more miles. At mile 12 or so, we crossed the Cumberland River and could see the stadium where the race was ending, and it was a welcome sight:
Just before the finish line, I ran into our great coach, Chuck, again and he took these pictures of me running along. They are a little blurry because we were both running, but I rarely have photos of me actually moving in a race. In the first one, you can see my "Virginia Rock Star" shirt covered with names and the finish line just ahead:
In this one, you can see a sign over my shoulder that says "Go Grampy!" I am sure that is not for me, even though I am a grandpa:
Chuck and I parted at this point after he handed me my camera back, and I picked up my pace to run to the finish line and complete my first half marathon! This is my fourth long distance race as a cancer survivor, and I feel pretty proud of that! I got my medal, grabbed something to drink, and hung out to wait for Krisiti to finish. As fast as she walks and as much walking I did, I knew that it would be a short wait.
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