VICTORY...well, sorta!

Got home Wednesday night. What a holiday! I can say without reserve it was the trip of a lifetime on so many levels. All that imagined and more. Bel and Glenn (my friends in London) treated me like utter royalty allowing me to see and experience so much more than just the marathon. Added to the blog are two of my favorite photos from the trip. One of Stonehenge and one of the Edinburgh Castle. If I had seen only one of those landmarks I could have called the trip an unparalleled success but I was blessed with so much more. If I have ever manage the time and computer savvy to do so, I will load in a slide show of trip photos. For once I actually managed a few good pictures! Even my daughter (the photo princess) was impressed.

THE RACE:
The race was the point of focus so I will detail it first. The weather was not as I feared but damn near perfect. It was around 84 degrees, no humidity to speak of and sunny. I walked the 2-3 miles down Prince's Street from my hotel to the start early enough to view the start of the half then wandered back up for breakfast arriving in plenty of time to place myself in my corral and contemplate the event. I had both calves braced as I have felt as though I've been compensating for the bad right one and putting undue pressure on the "good" left one. The start line was at the end of Old Edinburgh not far from Hollyrood Castle (where Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded), kind of fitting? The first portion of the race was at a significant downhill grade and I set off at a comfortable pace. All was going quite well till at around mile 6 when an unattended toddler wandered onto the course. I was too close to the sidewalk edge and actually went down on the pavement trying to avoid steamrolling her. Luckily enough I rolled back up into a run without missing a beat really but it was huge mental blow. I did avoid her completely which was thankful but I spent about 3 miles questioning my body and worrying if I might have actually hurt myself. It was not a mindset I should have been indulging in and did effect my rhythm.

At around mile 9 the calf began to moo. It wasn't painful but it was noticeable and it was sooner than I had expected. I continued until the half point where I discarded the jacket tied around my waist feeling sure enough I would not have need of it and began to slow my pace a bit. At this point the calf was becoming an issue. After the half point the course began to get a bit hillier, not by most standards but when compared to my Florida terrain it was a bit more of an effort. My pace slowed again from around mile 16-20. At the 20 mile point I could no longer ignore the calf and in all honesty my pace was so slow at this point that breaking to the walk was not much of a change. I alternated between walk/run/limp for the last 6.2 miles.

The race itself has come under some scrutiny after last year's event where they actually ran out of water! There was water and lucozade (like gatorade) throughout the race, however, it was not just warm but hot and, in my opinion, the water stops were too far apart. There were NO GEL STOPS or other sustenance of any kind. Twice, I alerted race stewards to down runners behind me on the course who may need assistance as there were very few sweeper vehicles checking on runners, although there were several ambulances. By UK standards, it was sweltering hot. By my standards it was comfortable and I can say I felt well hydrated. I was alarmed by the number of down runners I saw. Many were vomiting or simply collapsed from very early on. Sadly, a 52 year old, well fit man died. As of yesterday the actual cause was still unknown. Around 15,000 started the race. Just under 10,000 finished. 240 were removed by ambulance.

Poor organization struck again at race end. At the finish there was a half mile walk to the reunion/baggage area. Another half mile to a bus loop where we all hoped to gain transportation via the pre-paid bus tickets (at 3 pounds a head) back to Edinburgh, however, the city buses would not accept the vouchers and after some questioning on the part of many runners we were informed that the buses we'd pre-paid for were another mile and a half away. Many had not packed money let alone change to board the city buses. I gave coin to a grown man in full out sobbing tears who had no money to board the city buses and COULD NOT have walked to the charters. Luckily, I found a city bus back. Once in Edinburgh I walked the 3 miles back to my hotel after stopping at McDonald's and shoving a cheeseburger in my face as I walked. I knew damn well that after a shower, there was no way in hell I'd be heading back out in search of food.

Poor organization aside, the course was stunning. Beginning in the shadow of the Scottish Highlands the course paralleled the rocky shores of the sea and meandered through quaint seaside villages. At one point it cut off into the woods passing country estates, shaded forests and ruined castles. Residents set up sprinklers and hoses to cool passing participants and children offered jelly beans and cookies and near race end a pub was handing out pints! (I was tempted :). I spoke with many runners who said little good about their performance that day and I heard many organizational complaints but none who could note much outside of wonder at the course itself.

I earned no bragging rights for my first marathon. I had dreams of overcoming my injury and somehow pulling a miracle out of my ass but I approached the race realistically. It wasn't pretty but I FINISHED. I finished within the allowable time and all misfortune and complaint aside, I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT! A friend of mine who has finished many marathons said, "Kell, that was a demon of a race. If you finished that then you have earned bragging rights that many seasoned runners cannot claim and you are ready for any running challenge you might face." I believe him.