Wineglass Marathon Race Report

Last October, the boys and I went to visit my parents in Bath, NY for the weekend. I remember that at the time, I was training for my first half marathon, and I completed a 10-mile training run while we were visiting. I remember our ride home very clearly. It was Sunday, October 3, 2010. It was a BEAUTIFUL, crisp, cool day. The beginning of fall in New York. As we were driving home, I suddenly saw hundreds of runners on the next road over. It dawned on me that we were driving parallel to the Wineglass Marathon course, and it was in fact race day. I felt overwhelmingly proud of those runners. I was moved to tears, and I knew that I HAD to become one of them. It was at that moment that I knew I was going to run a marathon.

I continued training for my first half, the Amish Country Half Marathon, and completed it in November. I did another, the Garden Spot Village Half Marathon, in April. Finally, in June, I officially registered for the Wineglass (thanks Dad and Deb for being my sponsors!) and began an 18-week training plan. I have already written here before about my summer of running, getting up at 5am and running 14, 16, 18, 20 miles to prepare. The runs were long, and it was hot. But I told myself that after running 20 miles in the heat and humidity, running in the 50's in October in New York would feel awesome.

On our way up, we stopped in Corning at the race expo and picked up my goodies: a long sleeved tech tee, shopping bag, wine glass, and champagne.


So last night, we arrived here in Bath, and I started to get nervous. Not so much about the fact that I was about to take on something monumental, but about the weather. It was raining and cold, with gusty winds when we got here, and it was NOT supposed to stop. I didn't like this forecast one bit! I was imagining 5 hours of freezing, wet feet, wind whipping in my face. This is NOT what I had practiced. When I went to bed last night, I really didn't want to ever wake up and have to go do this marathon thing.

Fortunately I packed some extra clothes and was able to borrow an ear warmer from my sister. I got myself layered up.

Layer 1: shorts and a short-sleeved tech tee.

Layer 2: added a light weight, long sleeved tee.


Layer 3: added a running jacket with nice big pockets to hold all of my stuff.


Layer 4: a trash bag. Super cute.


My dad drove me as close to the starting line as possible, but they had it blocked off, and the runners actually had to walk -- I'm guessing between 1/2 mile and 1 mile -- to the starting line. I took my place in the back of the pack and waited. Of course, at 8:00, they announced that they weren't ready to start. And yes, it was cold and raining pretty hard at that point. So we stood and waited, a bunch of idiots waiting around in the rain to run for hours and hours. The race ended up starting at about 8:13.

I set my Ipod on shuffle. I always like the surprise of not knowing what song will start me off. Today it was U2's "Beautiful Day". The irony made me smile.

The first few miles were easy, and I was surprised when I found myself at the 4-mile water station. I couldn't believe how fast the first miles had gone. My family was cheering me on at mile 4.5 (which is where they took the photo above of me running). Originally the plan was for them to come see me at various viewing points. However, I knew that the boys wouldn't enjoy standing around in the rain for hours -- and Alex already has a cold with a pretty bad cough, so I told them not to bother with it. As long as someone showed up at the end to give me a ride home, that was good enough!

I made it comfortably until about mile 9, when we passed through the town of Savona. After that, we were on a country road with no crowd support, and the runners had thinned out. I really felt like I was running all alone on a rainy day, and it was semi-boring and not that much fun. Still, I held strong and kept running.

Throughout the morning, there was a steady rain. Fortunately, though, it was manageable. The gusting wind I had feared was not there. The downpours never came. Somehow, although it rained and rained and rained, it was never more than I could handle. I was warm enough in my cozy garbage bag. My feet were wet but amazingly not too uncomfortable. I was so happy to see mile 13 and realize I was halfway there. And when I got to mile 15, I noticed that the rain had slowed to a slight drizzle. Shortly after that, it stopped, and stayed away for the rest of the race.

Miles 15-20 were pretty good. I took some short walking breaks when needed, mostly after water stops. I felt good knowing that I had the majority of the race behind me and I started a mental countdown: 10 miles to go, 9 miles to go, then 8, etc. When mile 20 came, it was a big deal for me because that was the longest distance I had ever run in training. I knew then that I could make it to the end. At that point I walked a little bit at about every half mile, but I didn't walk too long. I made myself get right back to running.

At mile 22 I got HUNGRY. I wanted the pizza that was waiting for me at the finish line. This surprised me, I don't usually feel like eating right at the end of the run -- and this time I wasn't even done yet and I wanted to EAT! I did have fuel throughout the course -- one Gu, two Shot Blocks and one pack of sports beans. I'm sure those helped me keep going, but they're not actual FOOD.

The last few miles were tough -- my legs were sore, my feet hurt, but I was able to keep going. I knew that I just had to keep it up and I would be there soon. At mile 25, I took off my Ipod so I could just focus mentally, hear the sounds around me, and most importantly, hear the sounds at the finish line.

Once I got to the bridge in Corning, I knew the end was coming. Sure enough, when I rounded the corner to Market Street, I could see the finish line ahead. It was still a ways off, but there was so stopping to walk now. I held a consistent, steady pace and kept my eyes on the goal. Right before the finish line, I saw my family. I waved to them and coasted through the finish line.


I had NO idea what the time on the clock was going to say -- I didn't take my watch with me, and there weren't time clocks along the course. I am really glad, though -- I ran the race that was the most comfortable for me, without the pressure of time. I didn't have a goal for this race exactly. I pretty much expected that it would take me between 5 hours and 5:15. When I crossed the finish line, the time said 5:11:44. I was super happy to see that, especially since I had started at the back of the group. I didn't really care what my time was, especially with the weather forecast, and I was just thrilled with the time I got. A solid first marathon for me. (As of writing this, I am still awaiting the official results).



Shortly after the finish line, I saw my friends Mary and Alexis waiting for me. I was so happy and surprised to see them. I went to talk to them and then had to stop for a minute -- I felt like I was going to have an asthma attack, I just couldn't get a breath in. I didn't have any problems breathing while I was running, but I guess the stress of what I had just done caught up with me. After a moment, though, I was fine and was able to stop and talk and pose for photos.



The next thought I had was, "I NEED PIZZA!" I proceeded to the runners' recovery area and chowed down. I was slightly annoyed that they had run out of chocolate milk, but I made do. Pizza hit the spot.


I got full quickly and couldn't finish what I had taken. I stretched a bit, put on some warmer clothes, and we then walked a couple of blocks to my parents' van. After about 5 minutes of riding, I realized I was starving again, and we stopped at McDonald's for a Big Mac and a coffee. We drove home along the marathon route, and it was amazing to see how far I had just run.

When I got back to the house, I felt so loved when I saw the many signs around the house congratulating me. It is amazing to have such a supportive family!




Somewhere along the race, a person had made a sign with a Bible verse on it. It comes from 1 Corinthians 9:25-26. They paraphrased it a little bit, and took it from 2 different translations I think, but it said something like, "Run in such a way as to get the prize, with purpose in every step." I LOVE that!!! Wish I had known about it during my training.

Some other photos of today's race can be seen here.

So that's it. I am proud of myself beyond belief. I set a goal, worked hard, followed through, and did what I said I was going to do. I am a marathoner. 26.2, baby. And no one can EVER take that away from me.


EDIT: Official time: 5:09:40. #1306 out of 1447 finishers. Not quite last!

That's it from Boomerang Drive's newest (and quite possibly only) marathoner!

-- Holly