Columbus Half Marathon Race Recap

I seriously cannot believe that it’s been more than a week since the Columbus Half Marathon. It seemed like it was looming for sooooooo long, and now it’s just…

Over.

There’s so much to tell. (WARNING: VERY LONG POST AHEAD) Yet, I feel like this report won’t even begin to scratch the surface of what went on that weekend. (WARNING: IT’S STILL REALLY LONG, YO) Let’s just start from the beginning, shall we?

After getting to Columbus on Friday night, Dave and I had a full day of race planning ahead of us on Saturday. We hit the Expo, picked up our packets and t-shirts and did a bit of shopping. The weather was a little cooler than we were prepared for, so I went ahead and got a new One More Mile long sleeve shirt. We also picked up some throw away gloves and since I had to carry my iPhone (for the first time ever), I got myself a SpiBelt.

We chilled out with my parents for the rest of the day and then treated them to some Buca Di Beppo for dinner. HOLYCRAP it was a lot of food! We got our carbs on and still had plenty left over for lunches the next day.

After we got home, just when it was time to start getting ready to go to bed, I remembered that I never put everyone on my arm. I took care of that and then added a little reminder for myself.

Dave and I got up at 5am (ohmygoodness) and I had a bagel, peanut butter, a banana, and some coffee to get me going. We got dressed, packed our bags, and just as we finished up, my dad got up and got ready to drive us down to the race.

I can’t even begin to describe how overwhelming it was to be in a race with 17,000 people. It was just wall to wall people. Dave and I were able to get a picture together at about 7am before we parted ways. Since he was running the full marathon (and is wicked fast), he was in a different corral than I was. Our corrals were about a block apart, and it took me 10 minutes to get from his corral to mine.

And then we waited. It wasn’t long, but it seemed like an eternity. Then, the fireworks went off at 7:30am to signal the start of the race. And then we waited. Evidently, it takes a long time for 17,000 people to get down a city street. And I was way in the back (because I’m slow), so it took a while.

Finally, we started moving. I learned very quickly that taking pictures while running while it’s still kind of dark out is quite tricky. I tried to take pictures of the start line and me crossing the timing mat. That’s what you see below.

It took me a full 9 minutes to cross the start line. And then there was no looking back.

I just started running. I passed some people. Some people passed me. The first couple of miles was like playing Frogger as I tried to avoid all of the clothes that people had discarded (in the middle of the road, tsk, tsk) along the way.

To be honest, I don’t really remember a lot of the race. I checked my arm at every mile to see who was running with me. The majority of the time was just putting one foot in front of the other. I gave out some high fives and stopped at every water station, making sure to thank the wonderful people manning it. I read the signs that people held up for other runners. Among my favorites “This is harder than Labor & Delivery” and “Good Luck, complete stranger”.

Every 1/2 mile or so, there was a band playing or a local radio station playing some music through huge speakers. It really helped the time pass, but was kind of annoying when all I wanted to hear was MY music on my iPod. There was a kick ass drumline at Mile 6 that I almost wanted to stop and listen to. Almost, LOL.

Then, at Mile 7.5, the inevitable happened. All that water had to go somewhere. THANK GOODNESS there were port-a-johns all over the course.

Everything was rolling along quite nicely, and then I reached Mile 9. I was still feeling pretty good, my calves were starting to get a little tight. The overwhelming feeling I had, though, was HAPPINESS. I was in unchartered territory, but I was still feeling strong. I only had a little over a 5k to go, and I was going to do it.

Let me tell you, that was a short lived feeling. At about Mile 9.5 I started having pain in my knee. Surprisingly, it was not my right knee, as I had expected. It was pain on my left knee and it was getting progressively worse.

At about Mile 10, I passed someone who was passed out on the course. The medics were rushing over even as I passed, and the ambulance passed soon after. The weight of what I was doing hit me. This was NOT NORMAL. This was dangerous.

All at once, pride (“Not every one does this!”) and disbelief (“Who DOES this?”).

But by God, at Mile 10.5, there’s a camera, so SMILE!

My knee was getting worse, and I was to the point where I could hardly run more than a few steps. I slowed way down at the end. I would run a few steps and then walk for a minute or two. Then the tears started at about Mile 12. I let myself have about one minute of Poor Me, and then I let it go. This was not what I wanted, but this is what I had.

I started again with just putting one foot in front of the other. It didn’t matter how long it was going to take, I was going to cross that finish line.

I made the last turn into the last 1/4 mile of the race, bound and determined to run across the finish line. I started looking around at all the spectators, knowing that my mom would be there with the kids. That’s when I heard “Mommy! There’s Mommy!” I looked over and saw Emma and Jacob there with my mom, and I’m telling you my cheeks nearly fell off with how big I was smiling. I waved as I passed them and kept on going.

I started limping so badly at the end that I just put my head down and tried to focus on not falling.

I crossed the finish line, limping, put my hands on my head and just started to cry. Someone approached me to see if I was o.k. I just started shaking my head yes. I kept crying and kept walking. Someone gave me a medal. Someone gave me a shiny wrap thingy.  Someone gave me some water. I just kept crying and walking.

Then I saw a camera. So you know what I had to do…

And for the record, that was me holding up a 10 (as in 10 races in 10 months), not jazz hands (like Dave thought).

The rest of it is a blur. Dave finished (and did AMAZING…you can read his recap at his blog) and we met up after the race. We went home, collapsed, and I slept for like 3 hours. I was done.

But you know what? I am a  half marathoner. And, without a doubt, there will be another.

10 down, 2 to go. And #37 off my bucket list.

Location	Race Time	Time of Day	Pace Between	Overall Place	Division Place	Sex Place
Time	2:54:00	10:33:28	13:57	8580/9932	773/909	5088/6189
10K	1:18:00	8:57:28	12:34	8376/9879	747/901	4921/6160
ChipStart	8:58	7:39:28		7864/9932	709/909	4625/6189
GunStart	00:00	7:30:31