An absolutely beautiful morning for a marathon or any other outdoor activity. Not as cold as usual at the start and not as hot as usual at the finish. I hit 8 miles in 52:00, i started out going for a 2:50 marathon. I really felt great up til about 10 miles, took a quit porta potty stop and felt even better. As I remember it i was running along at about mile 12 talking another runner about how the marathon is a strange animal and you never know what will happen. I mentioned that one mile you can be feeling great and the next your not. All of the sudden i got hit with a major side ache that literally stopped me. I walked and messaged it for 30 seconds or so. I was thinking "where did that come from" because there was no warning at all. My legs felt great and i was able to get things going again but the side ache just stuck around the rest of the race and I just ran whatever pace i could. Hit the halfway in about 1:29. I am a bit perplexed by the stomach thing and hope it is nothing serious. My stomach on the right side is pretty sore. another odd thing is that my knee caps are sore in a way that i have never really experienced. I feel like i never really got the chance to push my lungs or my legs much. There will be other races down the road and this has been a great year of running and some PR's in other races. I have said it before and i'll say it again. The real prize for me is just being able to run and i'm greatfull for that. I had an experience in this marathon in the last mile(by the tabernacle) I saw a young guy really struggling and doing what i call the "chicken walk". I could see he was barely moving and about to go down. everybody just kept running by him. I stopped and grabbed him just as he was falling backward to the pavement. He asked me to help him up, he was so close and just wanted to finish. a few cops rushed over and said lets get him off the course, i told them to let him sit there and rest so he could try to finish. As i left him and ran off to finish my race i felt energized. I saw a few others like him being helped by spectators. Those who struggle like that and keep trying, they are the real heroes.
3 of my brothers also ran and finished the marathon. I'm proud of them
All in all it was a great day and i will be back again and again. the marathon is a mountain that i don't think i will ever tire of climbing. It is a race against the clock, yes. But for each person it is a race against so many other things. congratulations to all who ran. There are probably many out there who are saying "I finally beat that Neumann guy in a race". I am glad to be able to in some way make this marathon a great one for you, but one to these years i will bust a good one.
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