Philadelphia Marathon Race Report (long)

After my run on Friday:
I finished work on Friday and knocked out the laundry pretty quick. However after finishing the laundry I dropped my work laptop and broke it. Although I did not need it for my weekend in Philly – it was not the way I wanted to start my race weekend. I packed up all my running gear- double checked I had both pairs of Kinvaras with me (my yellow ones would have been lonely if I left them home), had a nice dinner and then went to bed.

Sautrday:
Alarm went off at 6am and I was up and having my coffee within 5 minutes. My family and I were out the door by 7. We made a quick stop off at Panera for breakfast (didn’t seem right not to start the race weekend without an orange scone) – and then we were off to Philly. Very quick drive down with no excitement (even through New York City) – which was nice. Got to Philly around 11:30 and headed over to my in laws for some lunch.

After lunch I walked over to the expo to get my bib and such. The expo was really nice –lots of people there. This by far was the biggest expo I had ever been too. I walked around a bit picked up a couple things. At 3pm I met up with some fellow Milford Road Runners that were down to run the marathon as well. After a couple pictures we all went our separate ways. I was amazingly tired for it being only 4pm. My way was to the hotel (Thomas Bond Bed and Breakfast) to check in – then back to in laws so I could eat. After a nice dinner at the South Street Diner (which ended up being on the race course) – we went back to the hotel so I could get ready for the race – and more importantly sleep.

Sunday:
RACE DAY!! – After a decent (not great) night of sleep – I woke up 5 minutes before the alarm went off (which I’m sure my family appreciated) and was getting myself together. Had my morning bagel and a diet soda to pep me up. Slowly I got myself into race gear and in my throw away clothes and headed down stairs for my cab. The lady that worked at the bed and breakfast had coffee ready when I got downstairs and a bagged breakfast for me with scones and other pastries in it (she had others for the other racers too – such a nice touch). Cab showed up right on time and after a five minute drive I was staring at the art museum at about 5:30 in the morning. It was pretty cold still and the moon was shining bright right about the museum (wish I had my camera with me). After christening a fresh porta potty – I worked my way over to the fleet of UPS trucks to check in my bag. By the time I had that all done- the sun was starting to peak through and the numbers of runners and spectators started to increase like crazy.

I found the green corral and the 3:40 pace leader – and tried to just stay warm (I had shed my throw away clothes already). There was a definite excitement in the air – announcements over the loudspeakers, friends chatting, perfect strangers introducing themselves….it was great. I talked with a couple people, – (one was a girl named Penny from Brooklyn who ran a 3:37 and qualified for Boston!) - which is not in my nature as I am usually quiet and shy at races. Philadelphia has a wave start – which was great. When it was time for our corral to go – it was still very busy but I cant even imagine if everyone went at the same time.

As I started the 3:40 pace balloons pulled away from me and I lost site of them. I didn’t really worry too much as I was only going to use the pace group as a guide (although I would have loved to stick with them the whole race). Streets were pretty narrow and running room was at a premium. A runner next to me, we’ll call him Doc as I cant remember his name – just that he was a Doctor at Temple, starting chatting with me. We realized we both wanted to run with the 3:40 pace group and since we both lost sight of it decided to just run in a pace group of two. In between miles two and three we caught sight of the balloons up ahead – but decided it was in our best interest to not chase them down. We were doing fine on our own at an 8:15 pace or so. At mile 5 – I saw my wife and father in law waving, no pictures though as I was just running too fast (and on the other side of the street from them). I took my first gel at the water stop after mile 5. Through the city was just an amazing place to run – so many people all cheering, giving out high 5s…it was just great. And with our names on our bibs – you’d get the occasional stranger yelling out specifically to you. Such a boost.

We finally caught up to the pace group around mile 8 or so and I settled into a nice focused pace. Even though the course is billed as a flat course – it does have some fairly decent hills in it that you have to watch out for – and they start around mile 9. Mile 11 I took another gel. As we pulled around the front of the art museum for the half marathoners to split off – the road got pretty narrow and congested as everyone started to make sure they were in the right spots for the split. Once we were passed the split the roads opened up a bit and we all had a bit more room to run. The crowd through here was a bit sparse – so I decided to disconnect the brain for a bit and just focus on running form and breathing. As my Garmin beeped 15 miles – the lead runner ran past us on his final stretch- he was flying. We all cheered for him as he went passed….

With the brain disconnected and me being focused just on running – I don’t remember too much from mile 14-18 except – there was a bridge, a downhill, me passing the pace group leader as he watered some grass, then back uphill and across the bridge again. I took my last gel shortly after the bridge, then kept an eye out for the final turn around point. I decided to forgo the nice offers of free beer around mile 19. Finally the turn around came – at this point the pace group was about a 1/10th of a mile in front of me- and I decided I wasn’t going to have it in me to keep up with them. As they turned around the corner I pointed at the pace leader and said thanks to him and that was the last I remember seeing them. I was still feeling fairly good even though the 3:40 wasn’t going to happen. I started watching the outbound runners and just zoned out to the all the runners going by me. Then out of nowhere I heard my name and an arm came out – my friend Alecia was running at me on the outbound side – we exchange high 5s and yelled at each other. That was just the boost I needed to get through the next couple miles.

At mile 22 I got hungry and started to cramp when I tried to hold my focused pace. (side bar: I keep saying focused pace as I was not looking at Garmin pace anymore and just figuring my splits from the race clocks). Then I felt that the wall could be coming – so instead of trying to run right into it and have it knock me back, I decided to slow up a bit find a comfortable pace and just sit on that until I felt a bit better. Even though I slowed up – I realized around mile 23 (where I had to DNF at Cape Cod) I was going to finish this race. I started to get choked up – which is a big deal for me – as I have been told Im a robot when it comes to my emotions. A bit after mile 24 I was really hungry – and out of the blue (I’m pretty sure I didn’t hallucinate this) there was a group of kids handing out gummy bears. THANK YOU! Although I only ate 4 it was just what I needed. I started to pick up the pace again (or so it felt). Then the crowd started to get thicker and thicker again as we were within a mile+ of the finish. With a mile to go the crowd was basically on top of the course cheering us all along and I picked it up again. It was so surreal having that many people so close to you cheering you on. “You got this Mark” and “Finish strong Mark” were the ones I remember the most. As I made the final little turn around the loop to the finish line I realized I had this smile plastered on my face. I don’t even remember looking at the clock or anything as I ran through the chute – but I do remember the feeling of just uncontrollable happiness.

As I got my mylar blanket and my finisher’s medal – I heard my wife yelling out my name. She walked with me to get my food and my bag. She was so happy to be able to see me finish AND get a picture of it as well. (With a 7 year old kid sometimes race finishes are missed by last minute trips to the porta potty).

I’m so happy still that I was able to finish this race after what happened last year at Cape Cod. I knew heading into it that a 3:40 goal was going to be tough to maintain – and really don’t care that I missed it. The 3:46:29 is a 13 minute PR and I couldn’t be more excited. The smile has yet to leave my face.

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