Sunday January 10, 2016
Time: 4:52:29
Overall Place: 214/374
The First Light Marathon was the second of two races that
make up the Back-2-Back Challenge which was held in Mobile Alabama. There were approximately 100 runners who had
registered for this challenge; most of them part of the Marathon Maniacs club
which I too am a part of. We arrived in
Mobile late in the afternoon and went straight to the hotel we were staying
in. The hotel was close to the
start/finish line so we didn’t have to be too concerned with how we were
getting to the race or where we were going to park like we did the day
before. After checking into the hotel we
walked over to the race Expo and collected our bibs, shirts and race info. Again this Expo was not very big; in fact it
was smaller than the day before at the Mississippi Blues. However we were greeted by half dozen or so
girls dressed up in period costume. Very
pretty young girls around 15 or 16 years of age were the ambassadors for the
city and they attend special events in the Mobile area.
After picking up our race kits we went for a
walk in the area since we wanted to see the city a little and weren’t ready to
go to sleep yet. Mobile is on the ocean and
is one of the largest ports on the gulf coast.
We walked about a half mile and came across the bay which leads to the
ocean. We couldn’t see much but did
notice some navy vessels across the bay, one of which had just been commissioned. On our way back to the hotel we came across a
skating rink. It is very ironic seeing a
skating rink this far into the Deep South where the weather rarely dips below
zero, but there were a lot of people on the rink enjoying their time.
I should also mention as it would be
important to the people of Mobile that this is actually the birthplace of Mardi
Gras in America. Many people associate Mardi
Gras with New Orleans, but it was Mobile where the first Mardi Gras was held. Anyway this is what we were told by the
locals. We arrived back at the hotel and relaxed the rest of the evening getting
ready for the next day’s race. Heidi was
going to do the half marathon so it was great that she could participate as
well. I picked this race for Heidi to do
because the half marathon was almost pancake flat and I knew she would be more comfortable
with this terrain. The full marathon was
a different story with hills from mile 11 to 18.
The morning came later for this race because it started at
7:30 and when we looked out the window we not only heard the announcer, we
could see the start line.
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| You can see the start line where the blue is on the ground |
The weather
was overcast with temperature hovering around plus nine degrees which was
almost an ideal temperature for running.
Knowing the temperature and the pace I want to run is very important in knowing
what to wear. Over dress and you over
heat. Underdress and you risk
hypothermia. After the storms of the day
before they got a little bit of a cold snap, if you want to call it that. This race was a lot smaller than the
Mississippi Blues Marathon and almost seemed to be a low budget event, but they
treat you very well. They had no Pacers
because it costs extra for insurance to have them at the race and they had no Gels
so I had to make sure I had enough. I
had decided early on that I was going to run with Heidi for the first 8.2 miles
or so which is where the Half marathoners split from the marathoners. I wasn’t much in the talking mood since I was
just trying to focus on my run and not being too tired.
The course however was spectacular. It was heavy overcast and at one point drizzled
a little but it was hard not to notice the beautiful century old mansions lined
the lined the streets with big old Oak trees strong and mighty touched in the
middle. The history in this area if these
homes could talk would have been amazing and a lot of them in such great shape
yet. We ran a nice comfortable pace for both of us and when we reached the
split we went our separate ways. At this
point I picked up the pace a bit but still took my regular walk breaks. I felt surprisingly good but I still knew
that I had about 7 mile of hills to cover before the final six miles which were
flat. The first of the hills arrived
and I made it over pretty good. What
goes up must come down. The only problem
is that the downhill sections can be very taxing on the quads because you have to
brace yourself from going too fast. At
one point we reached the University of South Alabama which was a very large
campus on the course. They know how to
build universities down in the south.
The support along the course was very good from rolling medical on bikes
to refreshment stations. People were
always encouraging and hospitable. Most people were bundled up because as I discovered
later at the end of the race it really was quite cool if you were just to stand
around. With about six miles to go and
the hills behind me I had clear sailing to the finish line. For five miles I ran probably the strongest I
had for the two days, resting every half mile.
With one mile to go I just bonked.
I had very little energy probably from the lack of nourishment and
struggled to close down that last mile.
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| I did it! |
Near the end I saw Heidi and was able to get in some nice photo
opportunities and then finish the race.
I got my two medals, actually one was wood. One was for the race itself and the other for
finishing the back to back challenge. Needless
to say I was famished and couldn’t wait to get some food from the food
tent. Over the two days I burned almost
7000 calories so I had some ground to make up.
After the race we walked back to the hotel which was about
four blocks away. The start line was by
our hotel but the finish line was a few blocks away.
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| Heidi and a Mardi Gras picture at the hotel |
Our hotel was good enough to allow us a late
checkout so I was very appreciative of that and I think Heidi was even more so
because she didn’t have to smell me for the drive to the next hotel.
We had decided, since the Florida border was a short
distance the opposite direction, we would drive to Florida and set foot in
Florida to get a few pictures.
On our
way back from Florida in Alabama we fulfilled one of Heidi’s dreams and that
was to eat at an IHOP. Simply put it was
a pancake house. The food was great and
she can now knock that off her bucket list.
The plan was to drive to New Orleans where I had booked a hotel near the
airport. We drove through Florida,
Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to our destination. We had thought about going into the French
Quarter in New Orleans on our drive to the hotel but were glad we didn’t as we
were told the next day that it is not safe at night.
The next day we caught our flight at 11:18 in the morning
and flew to Detroit and then on to Minneapolis and then home finally arriving
at about 12:30 in the morning the next day.
Why did we fly through Detroit when Minneapolis is almost due north and
then northwest to Winnipeg? I don’t
know, maybe they wanted to give us an experience in the east. When you get a good deal on the flight,
sometimes you go to faraway places which are way out of the way, but it is a
way to save money on the flights.
Well, another five weeks till the next race and yes I am
looking forward to it. Someone asked me
if I would ever do a double like this again.
I said most definitely, and in about eight weeks I do that again. The
weekend was very fulfilling with meeting new people, seeing old/new friends and
running two marathons in two days. The
best part is that I got to spend the whole weekend with my best friend. Heidi isn’t always able to come along so I am
very grateful when she is able to join me.
It is also a great honor for me to run these marathons in support of
Siloam Mission. Even though I have now
completed 18 out of the goal of 20, I have increased that goal to 30 so I still
have 12 more to go. Thank you to all who
have supported me in supporting Siloam Mission.
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