Sunday, June 19, 2016
Time: 5:14:54
Overall Place: 519/648
We
arrived home right on schedule at 9:30 and had just time enough to lay out flat
ed, flat heidi, and flat elenore. The
two girls were running the half marathon and this would be my sisters first
half so we were very excited for her. We
went to bed and woke up in the morning at 5:00 with the plan to leave the house
at 5:45 so that we could be at the U of M for 6:15. Stephanie got dropped off in the morning so
it was the four of us that were going together.
I had decided to buy the VIP package which included parking at the start
finish line since I was doing a back to back on the same weekend. There were some other perks included, but it
was the parking privileges that I was interested in. I was feeling a tad lazy and didn’t want to
take the shuttle buses in.
The
weather on this Sunday morning was overcast with a temperature around the 17 C
and very high humidity around 95%. Because of the overcast the air just felt a
lot more sticky and heavier than the day before. I felt okay but I knew my legs would be tired
and I was concerned about the humidity.
The race the day before had sucked a lot of the energy out of me and I
was a little concerned that I had not hydrated enough. I had run two back to back marathons twice
earlier in the year and the temperatures were a lot cooler which made it a lot
easier to run. The warm weather and
humidity tends to take a lot of energy out of a person so we were going to see
how my body would hold up on this second of two.
It
was nice to be back at the Manitoba Marathon and I have always held this race
in high regard. Even though there are
not huge numbers for the marathon I know that the new race director was making
changes to make this marathon better than ever.
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| Race Director Rachel Munday |
The biggest change was that they changed the direction of the
route. This race had always been hot to
run in the second half because it was so open to the sunshine and with the change
it was thought that there would be more shade.
There just seemed to be a different vibe to the race this year and a lot
of people ran it this year feeling that a new direction and other changes would
be more exciting. It was nice to see a
lot of familiar faces again. I had grown
somewhat accustomed to not knowing anyone at the start and finishing the race
not knowing anyone, but at this race I knew a lot of people and all of them
were very encouraging.
We
all gathered at the start line and at 7:00 the race began. I should mention at this point that I had
someone very special to run with. This
being Father’s Day and my last race in the run ed run journey for Siloam Mission,
Stephanie said she would run with me the whole way. I was very excited to have her with me and I
told her she was going to need to help get me through this.
We
were off and running, all the marathoners together and on the other side of the
road the first wave of the half marathoners.
It’s a beautiful sight when you have this many people running together
all with the same goal in mind, to get to the finish. Everyone has their reason or purpose for running
and we get to talk to a lot of these runners along the way. Everyone has a
story to tell as to why they are there.
Runners pull together and encourage each other along the journey and
that is why I love this community so much.
Runners overall are very positive people and this becomes very
infectious. How else could runners get
up at 3:00 in the morning to run a hundreds kilometers to raise money and
awareness for a special cause and be joined throughout the day by dozens of
other runners? It is just what we do.
The
first couple of miles in the race were quite difficult and I struggled with the
warm temperatures and the humidity. Some
runners hit “the wall” at mile 18-20, I was there at mile two. From here it couldn’t get much worse and it
was just a matter of running through it till the end. Thankfully I had Stephanie with me to help
get me through the worst parts. One mile
at a time went by and as we got into the second part of the race I actually
started to feel a little better because the humidity started to drop.
It was also during the first half of the race
that we picked up another runner by the name of Harmoney and we got to know her
as we ran together. When I reach the
second half of the race I start counting down and so it was during the next 13
miles. Run a bit, walk a bit. We continued to meet runners along the
course.
A little tap on the shoulder and
a brief exchange of greeting and see you at the end. Through this all I really enjoyed
myself. There is something about pushing
the human body beyond what we think it is capable of doing. The feeling of accomplishment in overcoming
these challenges is exhilarating. Many
people have asked me, why I do this to myself.
Why you run two marathons back to back and my answer do is simple,
because I can. A lot of people wish they
could and they can’t. That is why I have
chosen to run this journey to support Siloam Mission, because it gives me
purpose in what I can do. In a radio
interview I was asked why did you choose running when you could do something
simple like collect blankets or something else along this line. I answered that everyone has a gift or an
opportunity with how they can best contribute and make a difference. I chose to run because I have a passion and a
gift for it. I run for a purpose to
support Siloam Mission.
I
was looking forward to getting this run finished up because I knew I had a lot
of support back at the finish line. The
entire way that Stephanie was running with me she had been sending pictures and
messages back to the finish line to let them know how we were doing. The last few miles seemed to take forever
even though they were some of my fastest miles.
Stephanie reminded me that she didn’t want to finish as slow as her very
first marathon three years ago so I made sure that didn’t happen.
We came in at the back of the stadium and
onto the track to a cheering crowd of friends and family with noise makers,
balloons and a banner. It was
overwhelming to finally cross the finish line and be done. Twenty nine marathons in fifteen months and
it is over. Thank you Stephanie for
bringing me home. I have run against
strong winds, up steep hills, through torrential downpour, extreme heat, in
sickness and fatigue. I have seen
beautiful countryside, majestic mountains, calm lakes but most of all wonderful
supportive people. This opportunity has been very gratifying and rewarding
personally. This chapter is over but the
journey is not done. I will keep running
and want to continue to support Siloam Mission in whatever way I can. A big THANKYOU to all of you for your support and encouragement.
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| Thank you Stephanie for bringing me home |
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| Two days, two marathons, two medals |
