Never, NEVER, Say "Never"... Little Rock Marathon, Part Two!

Part one is Here.


On to the really good stuff. :)

The further into the race we got the more the temperature dropped. We were counting on the mostly continuous hill between miles 14-17 to keep us semi warm. Shortly into mile 14 we "ran" into my parents. There they were shouting at us from the side of the road with the most awesome Epic signs for us. We stopped for a quick photo opp and were back on our way. There was very little talking while we worked our way up the hill. I kept thinking about the runners passing us and how amazing they were to do this whole thing, but also run UPHILL for three straight miles. Incredible! We saw my parents again about a mile and a half or so later. This time they had specially ordered cookies for us. The little details our support team put in were so wonderful. Scott and the kids would have been there too, but it was already pouring rain in Searcy and they didn't want the kids to be in the cold rain any longer than necessary. Somewhere just after we hit 17 miles our uphill ended. Sweet relief!! We were walking down this hill and then started jogging. It felt good to use different muscles! At the bottom of the hill my parents were waiting again. This time not only were they shouting at us, but we were shouting back. We were tired, we were aching, but at the same time we still felt really good! We truly had the BEST and most fantastic support team out there. Everyone around us said so. And I whole heartedly agree!

Between mile 18 and about 23 1/2 the course is out and back. So we cover that same road twice. I had heard that this part of the race was the worst. In my head I almost scoffed when I'd hear that. How could it possibly be worse than all the hills we had done in the 18 miles leading up to this point? How could the last 8.2 miles on mostly "flat" roads be worse?? Well, they were right. Especially in our case as the temp had dropped at least 10 or more degrees and our light drizzle had turned to a light rain. Mom and Dad showed up again a little past 18 1/2 miles. That one was fun because Aunt Tee and I had made some friends along the way and we got Mom and Dad cheering for them as well. As we worked our way towards mile 20 I was anxious. 20 miles was the furthest distance I had done in training. Past that it was all new. I also knew that meant only a 10k left. 6.2 miles. I could DO that! But it took for-ev-er. The road didn't change much. Everything looked the same. It was almost like being lost. I had no idea where we were in each mile. I was cold. I was tired. I had a blister the size of Texas. But again, I still felt good. Adrenaline from racing is amazing thing. :) With our hands balled up in our coat sleeves we pressed on. Finally we got to mile 20. There was a large arch with a time clock that showed our 20 mile split and some fantastic 80's music playing. It was just the pick me up we needed!

A little past 20 1/2 we finally made the turn around to head back. All things considered I still felt fairly energized and felt like the final stretch was in the bag. We past 21 and I thought, 5 more, ONLY 5 more miles! It's crazy how quickly everything changed.

As we came up to the 22 mile marker, which was also an aid station, there were people holding up signs. I didn't think anything of it and was kind of in the zone so I wasn't really paying attention to what they said. Just 4 more miles. All of a sudden I hear a volunteer saying the race has been cancelled. ...I'm sorry. What?!? Cancelled? She did NOT just say that. I vaguely remember asking her if she was serious and realizing the sign she was holding wasn't a sign for encouraging the racers. The directors have a sign system for weather alerts. There are three levels. Needless to say, the black sign being held up means weather conditions are very bad and the race is cancelled. I just couldn't believe it. It was hardly raining. Yes, by this point I couldn't feel my hands, but I've never heard of a race being cancelled for cold. I knew it was coming, but this seemed crazy. After a minute of shocked processing I was full on angry and completely lost it. I covered my face and just sobbed. While walking. There was no where to go but forward. After a couple minutes I heard again that the race was cancelled and we needed to find shelter. Shelter?? I'm in the middle of nowhere. There is no shelter. Aunt Tee and I decided to keep going. We had not trained so hard only to get so close and not finish. And we wanted our gargantuan medal! We didn't know what to expect at the end. The finishers chute could be taken down and no medal there waiting for us. But I knew I could not stop. I still cried. It was an all out tantrum actually. At the time I didn't care. I'm slightly embarrassed now. About half a mile after we heard the news we had reached the point where my parents had been on the way out. Still standing there. In the rain. Cheering us on and expecting us to be all smiles as we had been every other time we passed them. Instead I threw my hands in the air and told them the race was cancelled. I don't remember what they said. I was too mad and just kept walking.

There was a lot of confusion as to what was happening because we still saw people coming towards us on the out part of the course- the part we had already been on. Scott called me (after my mom had called him to tell him what I had heard) to reassure me there were people still finishing and they WERE still handing out medals. Aunt Tee kept encouraging me to run the final stretch. But I was hesitant. For one, I've said from the start I would finish with her. I WANTED to finish with her. This was OUR race to do together. I also didn't want to push myself that hard and run, only to get to the finish line and not get a medal. I did want to finish though, having done the whole course.

We continued to see people passing us on the out even though we also continued to hear volunteers and police officers say the race was cancelled. Then we got back to the point where the out and back started and there was an officer at the intersection re-routing runners, telling them to go right (towards the finish line) instead of left (the out and back). Some people were following his directions, others were ignoring and going the way the course was supposed to be. I guess that's why we kept seeing people. They were determined to do the whole course even though the race was cancelled. We kept going. The temperature kept dropping. The rain kept coming. I kept fighting an internal battle. I was still saying I was going to finish with Aunt Tee but it was not as firm as it had been. And then, I heard someone say something. I have no idea what it was but whatever it was sparked something in me. Finally just before mile 24 I looked at my aunt and she knew. She nodded encouragingly as I tearfully told her that I was going to run on.

And so I ran. 2 miles. TWO! I was so close. And so worried I was going to finish and there would be no finish line to cross. I texted Scott two or three times checking to see if people were still finishing. He always answered with something encouraging. I ran harder. There were two fairly steep hills. I walked up those. The second was where I passed the mile 25 marker. So. Very. Close. And this is where the rain started coming down. To the point where it was hard to see where I was going. I ran harder. I have no idea what my running pace was. I just know it was hard. Really. Really. Hard. There were a couple short rolling hills that I had to walk up, but I ran otherwise. There was a short section under an overpass near the end that I did walk for about 15 seconds, long enough for three deep breaths, so that I could run in the last stretch as strong as I could. I hit 26 miles as I came out of that and took off. In the pouring down freezing rain. I took the curve into the barricaded finishers chute, saw the finish line, and from somewhere seriously deep down, but also out of nowhere, I just booked it. I ran as fast as I could. Until I thought I was going to trip over my own feet. I crossed the finish line with my arms raised... or so I thought. After seeing my finisher pictures my arms are barely away from my sides. But I felt like a champion in my head, so it doesn't matter how silly it actually looked.

By the time we finished the temp had fallen to 32 degrees. Almost 25 degrees over the course of our racing. Epic is right. This will be a race I will never forget!

According to the results page, I placed 17th out of the early start walkers (9th place out of the women walkers) with a finishing time of 6:24:09. Aunt Tee finished fabulously and right in range of where she had set her goal finishing time at 6:36:39.

This was such an amazing experience. Even with all the crazy stuff that happened. The volunteers are incredible. The support from the aid stations was perfect. The spectators, even the ones who don't even know you, call your name and encourage you. And the camaraderie among the other runners, including the ones who started at 8 and passed us, was something better than I've ever experienced.

This one will be hard to beat. And I will certainly try. Yes. I will do another full marathon. I knew before I even started on race morning that I would do it again. Maybe not next year. But I will do it again.