Ran O-town Marathon today with Nate Wilcox. Like the other entries on the blog, I felt the temp would be a factor. Not cold enough at the starting line. Gave me flashbacks to Chicago Marathon last October. Anyhow, it was a different feeling, knowing I wouldn't be running for myself, but rather as a one-man peloton or "sherpa", as Nate would call it. Turns out that Eric Randall--one of my former student-athletes, and Steven Sessions, husband of one of my former student-athletes, ran with nate and myself for several miles. Eric would be ahead of us by 7 miles and went on to a fantastic race of 3:27. Steven, in his first marathon, looked great and was with Eric for several miles afther they pulled away from nate/me, then I saw Steven again at 16 or so miles. He indicated his achilles were in serious pain, and I tried to ease him down the canyon and escort him to the finish. He made it in 3:54. Back to Nate's race...
By 1/2 way, we were only 2:30 down from 3 hours, 30 min, but I could sense that it would be a battle of survival the last 10 or so miles. We continued on at about 8:30 or so from 14-19 miles, then the struggle began. Steven and nate's stride continued to deteriorate, but they kept a positive attitude and kept pushing. By the time we got out of the canyon, we were slowing significantly and feeling the effects of the heat. Steven began to pull ahead a little, I stayed with Nate and encouraged him home. He finished in 3:56, not what he was shooting for, but not a bad time either. I was proud of him for sticking it out and keeping a positive outlook for what was basically a too-hot day to run a marathon. It was a different experience running in the middle of the pack, but I'd do it again if I was asked.
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