Many people around me today were obviously running for a cause, be it with an official group like Team in Training or the Hope Heart Institute, or within their own closely-formed groups. The one that especially caught my eye (and heart) was for a young lady named Diana. She passed away last month, and was younger than me. And whoever she was, she had a lot of supporters today; it brought tears to my eyes to watch a group of 4 runners clasp their hands high as they crossed the finish line together proudly bearing matching shirts in her honor that I had seen on many other runners earlier on the course. Others proudly displayed support for surviving family members and friends, or youth activities in troubled housing districts.
It was fun to read inspirational quotes on the back of shirts as a way to boost motivation and keep paying attention to the runners ahead of me due to the heavy congestion on certain portions of the course. My two favorites were: "You are stronger than you think you are!" and "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." - John "The Penguin" Bingham. One lady even had a sign attached to her back that announced it was her birthday, and that she had been born on Thanksgiving Day in 1946; I should have wished her a happy birthday but opted instead to conserve my energy. Other shirts I noticed were for various races throughout the region, often a coveted "finisher" shirt for a special race, such as the Portland Marathon or Spokane's Bloomsday, that can only be earned by crossing the finish line.
Even I was sporting a new shirt today, it had the logo of my coach as well as our favorite local running store. It brought a sense of pride to recognize the same design on my teammates and a warm feeling of familiarity to see ladies I knew and had trained with on the course with me.
These were good distractors because there is a lot of anxiety that the body experiences during the course of the race. There are the pre-race jitters, which can start the day before, and no matter how much planning is done ahead of time there are always last minute kinks in the schedule that add to the tension level. For a lot of runners, to include me, there's the additional personal pressure of trying to obtain a certain time goal and the frustration of trying to maneuver around slower people to maintain the required pace to reach that desired goal. There's the sinking feeling in your stomach when you start pushing towards the end, only to turn a corner and find there's one last steep hill inconveniently located right before the last stretch ahead of the finish line. And the disappointment of not reaching the goal you had hoped for. This is what happened to me again today.
While waiting along the finish line chute, I was able to observe the marathon male winner come into the stadium, well ahead of the second place finisher. What chills to applaud him and hear the loud whistling and cheers of congratulations as he took off his cap and glided across the mat, making it look so effortless. Even though I was nowhere near a top-ranked placing for my age group, I could still imagine part of the feeling of accomplishment, just by finishing. There were some today that didn't make it off the course; my heart went out to a lady I saw lying on a hill receiving medical aid because she was injured, which of course added to the race nerves.
My first half marathon was the inaugural Windermere (Spokane) in May 2009. I had signed up but hadn't really trained and wasn't going to participate, and a friend from work encouraged me to just go do it. So I went, and I thought I would surely die somewhere along the way. I walked a lot of that race, and while I'm sure there were motivational shirts that day as well, they were lost on me in my misery. But somehow I found the finish line at 3 hours and 5 minutes, where two dear friends were waiting for me to cheer me on at the end. And the bonus was a great big medal placed around my neck - I felt like a celebrity! I certainly hadn't placed for time, this is a perk for anyone who has the commitment to finish a half or full marathon. I was hooked!
Since then I have completed five more half marathons, shaving more than an hour off my race time and improving my form and preparation. It's even sparked the fire to complete a full marathon, which I will do 8 weeks from today in Phoenix. I'm still trying to hit my personal milestone of less than 2 hours for the half, for which I was slightly disappointed again today when I missed it by mere minutes. However, I have nothing to be ashamed of and am quite proud of this accomplishment. Working towards this goal will help keep me motivated for the next half, and I just may have to make a crafty shirt to inspire those behind me!
