Kiawah Island Marathon Race Report

Goal time: sub 4-hour, 9 min/mile.

I got up at 3am in Columbia, because I had a 2 hour 30 minute drive to Kiawah Island on the coast. Staying on the island was way over our budget, and staying in Charleston wouldn't have made a huge difference about when to get up. But this was OK: I had time to have a big breakfast, etc. At 4am, I got into the car, and I drove to Kiawah. I parked the car at around 6:15, dressed up in the car (shorts, T-shirt and my sport sweatshirt with zipper, and a cap), packed my small backpack (some food, Gatorade, etc.), and I got on the shuttle to the island. This was a bit interesting, because there was only one road to the island, which was totally jammed, so it was around 7:00am, when we got off the bus on the island. I'm not sure how everyone made it to the 8:00 start.

I had time to pick up my bib (no line!), bathroom (long line, but nothing compared to the ladies'), and have some sandwich and Gatorade. Then I ventured to the start at 7:45. I linen up at exactly the 9 min/mile board. This turned out to be a bit of an issue later, because incredibly, I passed about 500 people in the first two miles, who apparently had no idea how to line up. This is actually a really bad thing, because it will encourage me to line up ahead of my goal in my following marathons. I had some small talk with some people, but mostly, I just focused.

At exactly 8:00am, the officials started the race. We only started running maybe 30 second later, and it took us almost two minutes to pass the start line. The first two miles were quite crowded, and I just tried to not waste too much energy on winding around people. Still, as I mentioned, I passed *many* people, including some walkers!

Mile 1 - 9:09
Mile 2 - 8:52

It looks like the crowd wasn't that big of a problem after all. If it wasn't for them, I might have gone out too fast!

Mile 3 - 8:50
Mile 4 - 8:48

I didn't stop for Gatorade until mile 4. I found the aid stations way too crowded, besides I didn't want to stop for bathroom break. I didn't realize until mile 4, that I forgot to bring a straw. So I just stopped for 10 seconds to drink.

Mile 5 - 8:42

Before the 6th mile marker, there was another aid station, where I decided to be adventurous, and try to drink while running. I had read all about it. So I tried the technique (squeeze the top of the cup and drink from the side), and it worked! It was so easy, I was wondering why anyone has trouble with it. By this time, the crown thinned out, and I was running comfortably. I took off my cap and unzipped my sweatshirt.

Mile 6 - 8:19

This mile marker was almost surely early on the course. I had to hold myself back, and I freaked out a bit when I saw this split.

Mile 7 - 9:37

As I said, this mile was "long".

Mile 8 - 8:59
Mile 9 - missed the marker
Mile 10 - 17:25
Mile 11 - missed the marker
Mile 12 - missed the marker
Mile 13 - 26:48

I was in a groove. I drank Gatorade at every aid station. The end of the first loop was on a golf cart path, and it was again a bit crowded. I don't understand why they have to start the half and the full marathon at the same time.

Mile 14 - 8:57

Finally we got rid of the half marathon runners. My legs started to hurt a bit. We had to run on the right side of a road, and maybe because I mostly train running on the left side, it didn't feel great.

I picked a woman, who seemed to have run my pace, and she looked like an experienced runner (how do you tell?). I decided to pace off of her.

Mile 15 - 9:09

Shoot, she is too slow! I passed her and went ahead. I started to pass runners.

Mile 16 - 9:01
Mile 17 - 8:49
Mile 18 - 9:17
Mile 19 - 9:03

I didn't feel great here. The effort seemed to be harder than what the splits reflected. I also started to be afraid of the wall. Especially, because the longest I had ever run was 20 miles.

Then I saw here again. The woman I passed at mile 15. How did she pass me? She was like 300 feet ahead of me, but I recognized her by her unusual stride. What should I do? I am almost at mile 20, I feel fine, maybe I can pick up the pace just a little.

Before the next mile marker, I pulled her back - it wasn't her. :)

Mile 20 - 8:36
Mile 21 - 8:31
Mile 22 - 8:38

These miles were magical. I experienced a runner's high that never before. I felt I was flying. It felt like running was no effort. I was smiling to everyone, even laughing out loud at one point. I felt an incredible euphoria, and I I was one with nature.

Mile 23 - 8:40
Mile 24 - 8:37

The high was gone, but I still felt fine. I did perceive the effort though, which got harder and harder. I still passed many people. I felt for the ones, who I saw struggling, or stopping for walking.

Mile 25 - 8:28
Mile 26 - 8:13

I couldn't believe it was only a little more than a mile left. It was a rather long one, but I hadn't crashed, and in fact, I felt almost liberated. After halfway to the next marker a runner, who I passed asked me: "How much longer?" I cheerfully answered: "About a half of a mile." He groaned and stopped running.

We tuned into the finish line. The crowd was amazing. It was an emotional moment for me. I saw the finish clock turning 3:53 - it was great. I passed the line, smiled, got my medal and a plastic warmer sheet. I went to the bathroom and I called my wife.

My chip time is 3:51:24, with 1:57:19 at the half point. I am absolutely satisfied with this especially because I was able to finish strong. I probably could have achieved a better time if I started out faster, but this was my first time ever running more than 20 miles, so I didn't want to risk crashing. But at least I know that I am not nearly close to my potential.

I don't plan to run another marathon for at least a year. I want to concentrate on shorter distances while I'm still relatively young, and I want to run a sub-20 minute 5K in the near future, optimally in 2010. But if I'm still healthy after that, I'll be back to the marathon distance.