Running this marathon was Cheryl Crawford's idea. She loved the flying pig theme and was really eager to break the four hour barrier in the marathon. Since I was consistently running marathons around the 3:50 mark I decided this would be a fun goal to help get her there. I knew she was capable of doing it, but she had a mental block that would have her crater as she hit the 20 mile mark. I only worried about 2 things: the unpredictable May weather in Cincinnati and the very hilly first half of the course. If we didn't go out too fast we'd be ok on the course, but if the weather was going to be warm and humid we would have a lot of work on our hands regardless. Luckily, it was cool on race day morning. It was pouring down rain, my first marathon in the rain, surprisingly enough, but at least it wasn't warm. It actually felt good! My memory is just bits and pieces of small and sometimes funny events, like being passed by a guy running in a shark costume, Cheryl's encounter with a relay runner who attached herself to our backsides around mile 22 (priceless... more on that later), and the constant rain, water puddles and frozen feet...
Luckily, I kept Cheryl's article that she wrote for our cycling club newsletter, so let me introduce to you my guest blogger, Cheryl Crawford, and her story!
This was my 4th marathon, and I was bound and determined to break the elusive 4-hour barrier. My last marathon was a 4:05 three years ago in Austin. Luckily, I had awesome training partners this time, and I even convinced them to go to Cincinnati with me to do the Flying Pig. Thank you, Andi and Teresa! I couldn’t have done it without you! Now, on to the marathon. We arrived in Cincinnati two days prior, and it was warm and humid, and supposed to be raining up until marathon day. However, consistent with two of my prior three marathons, the rain held off until the marathon, but I’ll come back to that later. The marathon expo on Saturday was great! It had a ton of “pig” themed things, which I proceeded to buy. I bought a Flying Pig fleece jacket, a Flying Pig running shirt, and a Flying Pig running hat, so the pressure was on to do well the next day. As part of the race packet, we got a really nice Flying Pig backpack, a poster, and a t-shirt. After the expo, it was an early dinner, and off to bed.
Surprise, surprise! I awoke the next morning to the sound of rain. And it had cooled down to 50-ish degrees. So, I had to abandon the idea of wearing the pink sleeveless top I had bought just for the marathon, and stick with long sleeves and gloves. Luckily when we all met up in the lobby, Toby had orange rain ponchos, so we marathoners were able to stay dry as we walked to the race start. Thank you, Toby! The race started at Paul Brown stadium, and they were nice enough to have the stadium open so we could stay dry and use the facilities prior to the start. At the 10-minute-to- race-start announcement, we headed to the line. Apparently we weren’t the only three girls with pony tails wearing orange rain ponchos. We lost Billy as we exited the stadium. He thought he was following us, but it was someone else. Hmmm… I didn’t ask him if those girls were cuter. Teresa, Andi, and I made our way to the start line. Suddenly, the gun went off, and it was time to go. We, and several thousand other folks, quickly shed our ponchos and tossed them on the ground.
The first couple of miles were pretty tricky since you had to watch your feet for discarded rain gear, garbage bags, and shirts. The first mile was a little slow, but we had gotten close enough to the front that we were quickly able to get into our pace. Across the bridge into Kentucky and back, a loop around downtown Cincinnati, and then the hills. Yes, Cincinnati has hills! Matter of fact, miles 6-10 were basically one big hill. Our pace slowed a bit to compensate, but we were still on target. And the scenery was beautiful, even with the rain. After the big hills, we continued to run through some beautiful neighborhoods and more rolling hills. I was amazed at how many spectators were out cheering us on even with the bad weather. In some of the smaller towns, we could only run two abreast because the crowds were so thick. The miles kept ticking away and the pace remained steady. I was feeling amazingly good! Before I knew it, mile 20 was coming up. I started preparing myself for the big crater, which has happened in my prior three marathon experiences. Along side me, Teresa is claiming that we’ll do the last 10k in 58 minutes, because that’s what she always does. I assured her that that was not possible since I always hit the wall and slow down to 10+ minute miles the last 10k. Regardless, we hit mile 20 under 3 hours, so I had over an hour to work with to meet my goal. Suddenly, we hit mile 21, and I hadn’t slowed down yet. Then mile 22. Then mile 23. What was wrong? I wasn’t bonking! Suddenly, there was Andi, and the three of us were together again. I looked at my watch and claimed “I’m gonna smash that 4-hour mark!” And off we went. And there went mile 24. Still feeling good. At mile 25, there was one more surprise for us. Another hill! I think I was in such a state of shock that I was still feeling good, that it didn’t even faze me. And the crowd was amazingly loud. Right behind me, Teresa yelled “Don’t slow down!”, and off we went picking up the pace. Believe it or not, that last 1.2 miles was the best! We were laughing, smiling, almost crying, coaxing the crowd to cheer louder, and suddenly, there it was: the finish line! And the official clock was reading 3:55! I crossed, and quickly stopped my watch. My time – 3:54:01! Eleven minutes faster than my prior best, and almost six minutes faster than my goal! I was ecstatic. After hugging my awesome running partners, it was on to get the foil blanket. Then the precious finisher medal (Flying Pig, of course.) Food, chip removal, really cute finisher’s shirt, and finally out to meet the guys, who were waiting with dry clothes and hot chocolate. A quick change, and back to the hotel, which unfortunately was about a mile walk away. Through chattering teeth and uncontrollable shivers, that walk was made with a big smile on my face.
So that's Cheryl's story. It's pretty much what I remember of the day as well. She and Andi took off ahead of me right from the start though, going faster than I wanted, and I didn't catch up to them until just before the halfway point. (after the major hills). And this is something I want to point out about marathons I've learned over the years: you may have a plan, but when the race starts you have to be willing to adjust those plans to run YOUR race and trust that in the end it will all work out for everybody. If you try to force something you will end up paying the price. So it worked out. Andi and I worked like a tag team. Somewhere around mile 16 or so Andi left us, then we caught her again around mile 23 or so to finish together the last few miles. Oh and the meltdown story at mile 22...so this relay runner was breathing heavily on our necks and at times trying to nudge between us. She tried to talk to us--mentioned she liked our pace (obviously), but Cheryl wasn't having any of it, and finally turned to her and said, "You're really annoying me!". Oh my God I laughed so hard and told that poor lady, "This is mile 22 for us, sorry." I guess it's so funny to me because Cheryl is such a nice person, and I've never seen her crack like that. We've ridden God knows how many miles together on our bikes and I've never seen her bonk on the bike, and I mean NEVER, so yeah, it was priceless and I am grateful to have shared that moment!
The medal turned out to be adorable! One of my favorites:
In conclusion, thanks to Cheryl for suggesting this marathon. It's really well ran and surprisingly scenic and a lot of fun!
