Monday, January 14, 2008

PF Chang's Rock-N-Roll Arizona Half Marathon (click here)

What do you do after flying all the way across the country to see family and speak about motivation? You fly back across the country to run in a half marathon (13.1 miles) with your girlfriend! After speaking with at the Villa Julie Leadership Retreat, my cousin picked my up Saturday afternoon and took me to the Baltimore/Washington International Airport. THANK YOU BERNIE! 5 hours later I was back in Arizona. Kelly was excited because in less than 12 hours we would be hitting the roads of Phoenix and Tempe to achieve the goal Kelly set in the fall........"To run a half marathon."

Kelly made a pre race pasta meal (mmm mmm good). And we got some rest...about 5 hours for me. I was still trying to unfold myself from being on the airplane so long. I think smurfs or the Travelocity gnome help design the seats for airplanes. Anyone taller than those two fictional characters will never have enough leg room on a plane.

We woke up, had a light pre race meal, drank lots of water and drove off to the start. All of this before 6 AM! Kelly, I and all the runners were bussed to the starting area. By this time it was about 7:30 AM and all the water had caught up with us. Off to the long lines at the Port-a-pots. 30 minutes later we were reading to join our starting groups and run our first half marathon. We stretched, took some ibuprofen, drank more water and tried to keep warm. There were over 35,000 people running in the half marathon, so starting area was one huge mass of people. Kelly and I didn't know how they grouped people for the race. They coral you together like animals based on the time you think you can finish the race. There were 29 corals. I was aiming for 2 hours and 20 minutes. Kelly was shooting for 3 hours. I ended up in coral 14 and Kelly in 22.

The Race started at 8:30 AM......for the first coral. My group didn't cross the starting line until 8:50 something. Kelly's coral, 9:15. We were off and running. My Ipod was on and I was carrying my camera! Kelly suggested running with it, so we could take pictures. What a smart idea. At the first mile marker was a band and Kelly's friends! The had pom poms and signs to cheer on Kelly, me, Kelly's sister and all the runners.

There are times in life when you find out how good of friends you have and Kelly found out on Sunday. Not only did her friends show up early on a Sunday morning to support her and her friends, but her friend's husband (Kevin) took in a step further. He wanted to run a mile or two with Kelly to help her stay on pace. At the 3rd mile marker his wife was there to meet him, so he kept running with Kelly. At the 6 mile marker, his wife just missed him again, so he kept running and pushing Kelly. At the 9 mile mark, his wife finally caught up with him and he left Kelly, for a little bit. They were there to cheer again at mile 12 and Kevin jumped in again and finished the race. He ran about 10 miles to support a friend. Holly, Cat and especially Kevin.....THANK YOU!

While all of this was going on, I was running the race and watching/listening to all of the different bands set up every couple of miles playing music for the runners and spectators. People lined the streets to cheer. There were cheerleaders cheering, kids with signs; all I can say is WOW!

I was happy to see the finish line. I got my medal, got some ice on my knees, stretched a little bit and went back to the finish line to find Kelly. She powered her way through the finish line. I was cheering for her when I noticed one of the runners started pointing at me, it was Kevin! Thats when I heard the story.

So, I'm sure you all want to know how we did. If you are ever running in a race, bring your own watch to time yourself. I finished in 2 hours 8 minutes and 26 seconds. They use a chip on your shoe to track your time, but my chip had an error, so my time on the internet is listed at 2 hours and 33 minutes. The chip worked crossing the finish line but not the start. My goal was 2:10

Kelly......WOW 2 hours 29 minutes and 39 seconds. Kelly's goal was 2:45! She blew that away! We are both recovering today. The concrete takes a toll on your body. My achilles is killing me, but I feel really good. We both feel really good about accomplishing our goals. While we were walking back to the car and thanking Kevin, Kelly's says this...."I want to run a marathon later this year or next year!" I guess I have to get some rest and then we'll start working towards our next goal.

Time to buy some new shoes! Enjoy the pictures!


Riding the bus to the starting line!

Frank looks like a dear caught in headlights! Am I nervous about the race?

Pre-race powerbar!

People EVERYWHERE!

More People!

Get your game face on!

We're finally going to start the race!

1 mile to the finish!

I got my medal and some ice for the knees!

The Finish line

Me and my medal

Kelly and Kevin at the finish line

Kelly crossing the line

The Trojans. Yes they carried the swords and shields the entire race. I didn't get a picture of the gorilla costume chasing the banana costume fro the entire race.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Frank! Long time.. it's been crazy around here... I know it's a not a full marathon but I'm starting to train for the Army 10-miler in Washington DC in early October and was wondering if you guys would like to come over and run with me and my friends. So far I have 5 takers! Maybe I can get to ATL when you're there in March! Congrats to both you and Kelly with the 1/2 marathon that's awesome!. . Miss ya! Jenn from Savannah.

ramblings of a runnner said...

congratulations frank!!! I am so happy for you - can't wait to hear about your journey towards the full marathon!