Boston Marathon 2018 (aka Waterworld aka Noah aka Frozen)

This year’s Boston marathon was a “redemption race”. An unexpected triplet pregnancy in 2015 forced me to sit out on what would have been my third Boston. 

After the triplets were born, I continued to chip away at my goal to run a marathon in each of the 50 states (current count: 46) and included lots of stroller training. We made running a team effort in 2016 by setting a Guinness World Record for “Fastest Half Marathon while Pushing a Triple Pram- Female”. A BQ in Bismarck, ND sent me back to Beantown!

Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that (for once!) the weatherman was correct about the race day forecast:

My husband was concerned about hypothermia and knows my stubborn streak. He asked me to sit this one out and just enjoy Patriots Day with my friends from college, Heather and Jack, as an indoor spectator. 

I didn’t feel like I had anything to “prove” per se, but I did feel like I need to do it. To me it would be more insane to qualify, come all the way here, leave all 4 kids for 3 days, and not even TRY to run. Plus, I already knew an important fact from my hot weather experience in 2012: the city of Boston will not let you quit! 

I purposely took a late bus to Athlete’s Village, as my concern wasn’t running in the rain (as I’d soon find out, more accurately described as “torrential downpour”). My concern was all the waiting around to begin. Armed with an extra pair of shoes and socks, I showed up with just enough time to use the bathroom, pose with the famous Hopkinton sign, vaseline my face to protect from windburn, and get into dry footwear. 

Temperatures were in the upper 30s, but the “real feel” was 27 when I began at 10:50 am in the third wave. Note: my qualifying time gets faster and faster each year while my wave and corral has been pushed farther back. I’m sure there is a statistic somewhere to support it, but my antidote says a lot about the growing level of talent out there in the running community right now!

What was it like to run in constant showers and gale force winds of 25-40 mph? Miserable. After running for what felt like at least 30 minutes only to look up and see the 1 mile marker, I decided to put in headphones and listen to an audiobook- I needed to dissociate! 

There were many moments where it felt like we were running through a car wash- inches of rain on the ground combined with gusts of wind made for crazy conditions. Still, the city of Boston didn’t disappoint. 

Families were out with rubber boots and umbrellas in Hopkinton handing out high fives. Restaurants were packed with crowds on patios and in parking lots in Framingham and Ashland. The Wellesley “scream tunnel” at mile 13 could be heard from mile 12. Funny and inspirational signs were wrapped in clear trash bags and lining the hills of Newton. Even with a rained out game at Fenway, folks lined the streets 10 people deep screaming their heads off and handing out gear (thanks for the dry socks I used as gloves, random stranger!). 

My finish in 3:40:37 wasn’t my worst time by a long shot but was also about 10 minutes slower than I was training for. Know what? I’m really proud. This race was, hands down, one of the toughest mental and physical challenges I’ve ever been handed. 

Not a single mile of the 26 was comfortable. I found fortitude I didn’t know I had, as did most of the runners out there- 95% of the participants who started on Marathon Monday finished the race. I’d love to say that Boston marathon runners are a special breed, but I know an important fact that has now been twice proven to me first hand: the city of Boston will not let you quit! 

Wrightsville Beach Marathon

I’ve been running marathons for 15 years and had never once felt convicted about participating in Sunday races...then, God opened my eyes. 

We have been studying the Ten Commandments in church and during family worship. There is a lot of debate among Christians about the application of the fourth commandment (“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it Holy”, Deuteronomy 5:7-21) and I’m still studying it. However, that’s not the law I feared I was breaking. Me? My conflict was with the first Commandment (“You shall have no other gods before me”, Deuteronomy 5:7-21). 

What’s the one thing I put before God? I’m embarrassed to admit it, but yes, it’s running. On the single day God has set aside for me to worship Him, I’m doing the very self righteous thing that boosts my ego and takes my eyes off of the Lord.

I’m not interested in convicting other runners who choose Sundays, nor do I think running is an unhealthy activity. That said, I believe it’s a slippery slope when you have something (anything!) other than God you schedule around, think about constantly, and love so much you don’t know what life would be like if it were gone. For me, that thing is running.

I’ve long asked “how can I honor a God through my running?” and knew the answer was not by simply wearing scripture on my singlet. Maybe the way I can honor God through my running is by not running. I made the decision to do no more Sunday races when God put a few runners who race exclusively on Saturdays in my path, which gave me the confidence to take action.

...problem was, I made this decision halfway through a training cycle for All American Marathon which is on Sunday. Providential for me, Wrightsville Beach has a Marathon only one week earlier. I could take advantage of my existing training and honor my decision.

Wrightsville Beach, just outside Wilmington, is only a 2 hour drive from Fayetteville. Preferring to sleep in my own bed and minimize time away from the kids, I drove down the morning of the race. For only $20, I was able to get my race bib and swag mailed to me beforehand; that made the same day trip possible and was worth every penny. 

A lot of folks from Fayetteville Running Club chose this race over All American to avoid the hills in the latter. I’m not as active with the club as I once was (see: 4 kids under age 4) so it was great to take some starting line photos and catch up with the crew! 

I also got to see my longtime running friend, Shannon, who is recently engaged and finishing a PhD program. Surround yourself with people like this and triplets don’t seem like such a time obstacle when training! 

On a pancake flat point to point course, I ran a pretty even race, averaging about 8:15 per mile. I liked that there was a relay option because it gave marathoners the opportunity to run with folks who had fresh legs, including my friend Jessica from 2011 CrossFit in Concord. 

Other highlights during the race: 

•Thomas, our Fayetteville Running Club President back when I was on Leadership, works for this race’s company now and ran with me (in denim jeans!) for a solid half mile. 

•Listening to “Quiddich through the Ages” on audiobook and getting verbally abused by a lady who did not like me playing it on speakerphone, even on a desolate stretch of the course. I’ve never had another runner say anything, let alone flip out like she did. Must be a Slytherin. 

Trey bought me Air Pods for Mother’s Day, so she can chill when I do this race next year.

•Finishing at UNC-Wilmington, where I sold yellow pages (dating myself, aren’t I?!) back in 2003. I ran by a number of apartment complexes, restaurants, and bars we sold to as well. Run down memory lane! 

I finished 113 of 558 overall, 23rd female overall, and 4th (doh!) in my age group with a Boston qualifying  3:34:53. For a woman my age, 3:40 is the standard; however, you must beat it by about 4 minutes if you want to actually run since more people qualify than BAA can accommodate. The Boston Marathon is on a Monday, so its an option for 2019!