26.2 Miles

Last Saturday morning I ran the 2nd annual Utah Valley Marathon in Provo, Utah. I finished 244 out of 656 finishers (37th percentile). My time was 4:06:28. I deem that CLOSE ENOUGH to my 4 hour goal. Not bad for an old man doing his very first marathon, especially considering I couldn't get to the end of the block without walking in January. It was a blast! As I write this on Monday morning, I am still feeling an extreme sense of accomplishment and I don't think the runner's high has gone away yet. I can't wait to run another marathon.

The run started in Provo Canyon, just below the reservoir dam. All runners were required to ride buses from the Towne Centre mall because there was no place to park at the starting line. It was cold--in the 40s--when we got there. The race volunteers had several burning barrels with fires going in them, but not enough that all 656 of us could keep warm. I had to wait around for 45 minutes for the race to start, but the sunrise was spectacular. Lots of gallows humor waiting for the start. The guy next to me around the burning barrel said he had his cell phone and asked the group in general if he should call his wife and ask her if she was up yet (this was at about 5:15 am). They guy standing next to him, obviously his friend, said in a falsetto voice "Oh, hi Steve, I am still in bed and it is really warm. By the way, did you get that extra life insurance policy we were talking about?" Very funny!

The run down the canyon was really something. The sun was coming up and the waterfalls were really amazing to run by on foot. As we ran through the tunnel at about mile 3, everyone kept hooting. Crazy marathoners.

At mile six, just before we were out of the canyon, some guy behind me yelled at the top of his voice, "Oh yeah, only twenty miles to go. Piece of cake!"

We ran out of the canyon and turned right into Orem. We ran past Costco over to University, and then down the hill to the river. After that, we followed the Provo river to Utah Lake, running along a paved 6-foot wide path. (Zach and Katie, we ran almost right past your old house, right through the park where I caught that little snake.)

As we neared the lake, the river moved more and more slowly, until it was almost stopped and was a little mossy. No problem, except there were a lot of bugs. When you have run twenty miles and are gasping for air, the last thing you want are swarms of gnats. Oh well, we probably needed the protein.

We reached the lake and the small marina. I recognized it as the place we went ice skating back in the day. Then we turned back towards Provo, running through some farm land. As we neared the Towne Centre mall and the finish line, I saw a guy that looked like he was in his 70s yell from the sidelines "go, 24 [my bib number]. Hooray for the old guys." I had mixed feelings about that cheer!

Around mile 23 miles legs started to feel numb. At mile 24, my legs would not always obey my direction and there was some significant muscle pain. But that all went away when we entered the mall parking lot, knowing that the finish line was just on the other side of the mall. Lots of cheering. I straightened up my form, put a grin on my face (knowing that Shauna and Stephanie would be taking pictures) and ran past the finish.

It was a little weird, because as soon as the race volunteers cut the timing chip from my shoe, I started to walk to the runners' recovery area for water, Gatorade, food, etc., and I started to stagger. I wasn't feeling particularly out of breath, my heart rate had already begun to slow, and I wasn't feeling light-headed. My legs simply were having a hard time obeying my commands! Very strange. I would lean to take a step, and the step itself was a delayed reaction, which caused me to be off-balance trying to walk.

It didn't take long for me to regain some control, however. After a shower and a nap, we went to the Golden Corral (buffet with lots of meat). I at more than I have eaten at one sitting in my recent memory. Three plates of food and then a dinner plate full of desert. Funny thing was, I was hungry an hour later.

I can't wait to do another marathon, and am shooting to run another in October-ish. Now, I just need to find a good event.

Pictures to follow!