This marathon was on my list because it benefited the local L'Arche Mobile, which offers community services for special needs people in Mobile, and because the course itself had good reviews on marathonguide.com. With a large, mostly looped course, it would provide a great tour of Mobile, starting off along streets lined with historic southern colonial homes with spanish moss hanging from the tree branches, then passing through the Univeristy of Southern Alabama campus and neighboring Azalea city golf course, and finally back into the downtown area to the finish in Bienville Square.
I am relaying on memory, because I never did a write up after running this one, so I don't have many details, but Toby, who was injured, followed Jamie and I along the course, so I do have a lot of photos to share. In summary we loved this marathon, although it was pretty hilly and on race day it was a bit warm and extremely humid, so it did have its challenges.
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| Our typical pre-race eeeeee!! |
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| Command central, complete with mango Gatorade for us! |
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| Early on the route |
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| Jamie on the hills |
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| Downhill aerial shot! |
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| A very happy finish! |
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| A classic, one of my favorite pics! |
I did have an epiphany of sorts in this marathon that has carried me forward, and it has to do with aging and letting go of that rope...Right from the start I was trying to hold a 9:00 pace and it was a struggle. I felt myself getting angry about it and stubbornly pushing through it mile after mile until around mile 8 it hit me. If I don't let it go, somewhere down the road things will get really ugly and I'll have a miserable experience. If I do let it go and accept whatever the clock says then I will enjoy the run as much as one can enjoy the marathon distance, through to the end. So I did it. I let go of the rope. From that moment the anger lifted and later in the race I had enough energy to power up some pretty big hills and I never resorted to walking any of the course, even though I was really feeling the effects of the weather and the hills near the end. At the finish line a special needs person from the L'Arche community put a handmade medal on my neck!
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| The handmade medals, priceless |
Jamie loved this marathon too! She ran a 3:58 and I ran a 4:07. We both placed on our age groups, so our awards were canvas paintings from members of L'Arche Mobile!
I highly recommend this marathon, and would gladly go back to run the half if others want to go check it out!
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| Kudos to Toby, who knows how to take care of us! |
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