Photo Courtesy of NREA
Last weekend I completed my first competitive 1/2 marathon. I ran the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, which is part of the Rock ‘n’ Roll series of marathons held all across the US. My first reaction to the event? “WOOOOOOO!!!” Those were my exact words as I crossed the finish line and that’s what I yelled out multiple times throughout the race. I never viewed running as a social event until now. Running shoulder-to-shoulder with 36,000 other people is quite an experience, one that I won’t soon forget. Despite the fear of looming storms, which caused a few issues for the full-marathoners, the race was nearly flawless.
My previous experiences with competitive races were great, but this was positively amazing! One of the joys of huge events like this is the massive planning efforts that bring together people and resources you won’t find at smaller races. First, as a part of the Rock ‘n’ Roll series, there are bands playing at every mile along the race. Even though you only hear the band for a few moments as you pass them, it adds a ton to the atmosphere and pumps everyone up. Nashville is well known for its music and the talent didn’t disapoint. There was also an abundant amount of water, sports drinks, fruit, and energy GU at frequent intervals throughout the course. There were also thousands of spectators lining the course from beginning to end. Most people on the sidelines were holding signs, passing out food, sipping champagne, or simply getting wasted and cheering us on. FYI, there were many groups of High School cheerleaders along the course, if that’s any incentive for you. You gotta love the encouragement, no matter who it comes from!
At the starting line there were massive waves of people, each stretching their muscles, tightening their laces, setting their Laptop-sized GPS watches, and turning up the volumes on their iPods. If you’ve never seen or been a part of a huge race, it’s incredibly empowering to be a part of a group effort where everyone is striving for something so beneficial and motivational. The race actually started a few minutes early, probably because of the incoming bad weather. As I crossed the starting line I was completely surrounded on all sides, so there was very little room to break ahead of the pack. In fact, if your goal is to run solo or have any personal space, you’re only options are to run faster than everyone on the course or simply don’t run.
In a nut shell, the race was an obstacle course. Many runners slowed down suddenly, changed directions, jumped sideways towards the water stations, or simply stopped in their tracks without warning. More than anything, you can’t zone out. You have to stay conscious and fully aware of your surroundings at all time. For the first 10 miles, about an hour and 30 minutes, I was feeling great. The run was tough, but more than anything I was having a great time. I viewed the obstacle course as a challenge and simply another hurdle to jump on my way to the finish line.
Around mile 11 things got tough for me. I broke down and took my first real walk and stretch break. With only 2 miles left it seemed a little silly to stop then, but I was hitting the wall and it hurt. The final mile was nearly all uphill and it nearly killed me. I did get a lot of encouragement from other runners, many of whom patted me on the back and shouted motivational phrases as they passed. I was walking to avoid passing out and puking, which I witnessed others doing constantly. The medical teams kept very busy scraping runners off the course and forcing water down their throats. At first I didn’t even notice the ambulances whizzing by, until those last few miles. Near the end, every time I saw someone lying on the ground I had flashes of fear and anxiousness fly through me.
By the time I made my final approach the finish line I was whipped. I had nothing left and that was my goal. I saw other runners finishing with huge smiles on their faces and strolling in like it was just another run. In reality, that means they didn’t run hard enough. If you have that much energy at the end of a race, you didn’t do your job. Now, I’m assuming your goal is a fast time, which may not be the case. Many runners are really social joggers in disguise. Their goal is to chat with their friends the entire race, which actually is a great distraction to finish long distance races. It doesn’t matter to me why you run, but it is a little tough to watch smiling happy runners fly by as I scrape together every ounce of energy I have left. I finished with a time of 2:03:12, just three minutes passed my goal time of 2 hours. I’d like to think the final uphill mile is watch stopped me from hitting my goal, but really it’s because I didn’t train hard enough. Lessoned learned. Next year I’ll be ready.
The joy of running with 36,000 other people is that there is no shortage of smiling faces, all of whom are sharing in your challenges and successes throughout the race. If you’ve never considered running a half or full marathon because of the physical challenge, then don’t make it physical. Run the race for the atmosphere. Run for the social opportunities. Run for charity. Run for the chance to be outside early on a Saturday morning and watch the sunrise. Run for your health. Run for the cool medal you get at the finish line. It doesn’t really matter why you run, just do it. Run for the sake of running. Run because it makes you feel alive.
The Clueless Graduate,
Jeff Sanders
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