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By race day I was resigned just to have a good time rather than aiming for a good time. Sometime in August Leo's development accelerated to the point that sitting still for 8 miles in the jogging stroller was no longer an option. It is wonderful to see him cruising around! But made training difficult.

My plan was to treat it like an easy run: go out at 8:45 for the first half, then see what happened. It was just a stunning day in Falmouth, crisp and partly cloudy, perfect running weather. We got to the packet pickup from the B&B a bit late, but nothing too serious. I started in the back of the pack and worked my way up to the middle as the runners began to string out.

Everything felt pretty good all the way to the halfway point and I was right on target. The course is flat as it travels east along the beach on Vineyard Sound. Spectacular scenery: this must be one of the five prettiest marathons in the U.S. Gal and Leo were waiting at Mile 13, and I asked a cop if I could cross the highway to give them a hug -- he said 'yes' of course. It was incredibly sweet. That was my first mile under 9 minutes, but it was worth it. Leo was going nuts, mugging for the camera.

Miles 14 and 15 were still good, and I felt strong -- maybe too strong. There is a hill right before 15, and I took the downslope a bit too fast, above a 6:00/mi pace. Shortly afterwards I began having some pain on the big toe ligament of my left foot. I ignored it at first but could feel myself slowing as I changed my gait to accommodate. Then I tried stretching it, which helped momentarily, but the pain recurred and was getting worse -- burning. It was a bit better if I went slowly, but above 12:00/mi or so it was really painful. Miles 20 to the end were kind of a death march: jogging interspersed with stretching. Gal and Leo saw me at around noon just before Mile 22, and they said I looked good, which is consistent with my recollection -- everything was in pretty good shape except the toe, but that was enough. It took an hour and 15 minutes to make those last 4 miles.

I don't feel too broken up about the result -- given everything I was aiming for 3:45-4 hours, and what can you do about an injury? The weather was beautiful and it was just delicious to see Gal and Leo and Cousin Enid at the finish line.

Let me close with a big note of thanks to all of donors to the Gaza Community Mental Health Foundation as part of this marathon benefit. Catherine Womack, Hege Finholt, Joe Logan, Helen Southcott, Heidi Clark, Dana Sajdi, Ian Blaustein, Subrena Smith, Eli Morris, Bryce Butler, Margaret Cohen Miller, Anna Rosenbaum, Ilham Makdisi, Subrena Smith, Daria Roithmayr, David Channer, Carol Shakow, Rachel Nugent, Robin McDuff, Enid Eckstein, and Donors 1, 2, and 3 -- thank you so much for participating.

For those of you who pledged at a particular level (6x, 12x etc) I have left you in the slots that you were assigned to before the race - the times were slower than expected obviously but that is the way it goes! For those who donated online before the race, I have adjusted your giving level according to the actual speed for that particular mile.

If you have not yet fulfilled your pledge, you can either do so online at this link or send a personal check or money order to the Gaza Mental Health Foundation, PO Box 380273, Cambridge, MA 02238, attention Hilary Rantisi.