Marathon Morning

I was awake at 3AM and figured I might as well be one of the first ones on the bus.  It was worth a chance to win free stuff. Unfortunately, no luck with that. I ate half of my oatmeal at 3:30.  As I was getting on the bus I meet a woman who was running St. George for the first time too. We chatted the whole bus ride up to the start line.  As we approached Central, Utah, there were strobe lights in the middle of darkness.  When we got the start line, it was such an awesome experience.  There are international flags lining the start line.  Lights everywhere.  We were the second bus up there, so there were maybe 200 other people up there. 

 They were handing out gloves and Mylar blankets. St. George Marathon was named one of the best organized marathons by Runner’s World last year. I see why. There were a huge line of porta-potties, bonfires, music, water, Gatorade, fruit, and anything else you might need before the race.  My new friend, Patrice, and I just hung out for the two hours before the race start.  I didn’t get too close to the fires because they were giving off a lot of smoke. I didn’t want it to bother my asthma. They were pretty amazing though.

  The Mylar blanket kept me surprisingly warm. Oh wait, it was 65 degrees up there instead of the usual 45. It was warm enough.  I tried to lay down and get more sleep. That didn’t work. I ate the rest of my oatmeal around 5.  Looking back, I think I ate my oatmeal too early and should have waited to the usual hour before my run like I was used to.  I ate my banana closer to the race start.  Then it was time to take off the warm clothes and get ready to start.  I said goodbye to Patrice and got in the group for the 4:30 pace group.  There were quite a few people in this group.  The last thing I remember was telling these girls how nervous I was. They told me that I’d be fine. They seemed excited and very optimistic about running this marathon. 

6:45-The gun went off. Sirens around started sounding.  I started my Runkeeper application on my phone so my family could track me live on the internet. The mass of people started corralling towards the start line. It took eight and a half minutes to get to the actual start line.