Last Saturday, Leo, Linda, Esther and I, Team Never Quit, ran the National Marathon in Washington D.C.  The course for this race is truly amazing passing the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, and the White House as well as many of the landmarks and monuments that are must-see attractions for visiting tourists.  Unlike the Marine Corps Marathon that goes through Arlington Virginia as well as Washington DC, the National Marathon is the only marathon held entirely in District of Columbia.

      One of the things that attracted us this race, besides the scenery, is that it is listed as the fastest looped marathon course in America.  This means finishers have the fastest average finishing time of any looped course in the country.  Seeing this we figured the race is on a flat fast course.  Although you can never take the marathon distance lightly some courses are more challenging than others. 

     Many marathoners say the true test comes after 20 miles — in this race that is where most of the hills are.  Once I started reading several runners’ blog posts as well as Marathon Guide.com, it did not seem as easy as it originally appeared.  The course is fairly flat for the first 19 miles, and then you hit the hills. The most daunting has been dubbed the Calvert Climb.  The Calvert Climb is a steep ramp coming out of Rock Creek Park.  Any hill 20 miles into a marathon is tough — a steep rise like this is guaranteed to make your legs feel like jelly real quick.

     This race has another challenge — the clock.  In most marathons runners race against themselves, many set a goal time and see if they are able to reach it, the National Marathon is different.  The course opens at 7am when the race starts and the finish line closes at 1pm.  I was told any runner that does not finish by this time will be taken off the course and put on the “straggler wagon” and taken to the finish.  

The Expo and Pasta Party

With Colleen Skeabeck from The Biggest Loser

 It’s amazing almost anytime you see a review about a specific marathon, it mentions the expo.  For those who have never run a marathon, besides picking up your bib, there is a chance to pick up t-shirts, race merchandise, or maybe score a deal on running shoes or some other gear.  However if you are a pack mule like me, you can easily pick up more crap than you need piling up the freebees.

     The National Marathon’s expo was held in the DC Armory, across the street from RFK Stadium and was small, but I did pick up a pair of shades, and it was great to see Joan Benoit Samuelson, as a guest speaker.  We also met several contestants from The Biggest Loser, who were running the half marathon.  The four of us hung out a bit with Colleen Skeabeck, who seemed, a little nervous but determined to finish the half.

     After we checked into the hotel and unpacked our bags we headed off to the Renaissance Hotel near DuPont Circle for the Pasta Party.  It was really good, the four of us settled in and had our pasta and talked about tomorrow’s race.  When we looked at the tables behind us we saw the cast members from the Biggest Loser.  They got up and posed for pictures. 

Linda posing with her new friends from The Biggest Loser

  We chatted with Colleen a bit more, who seemed a little nervous about half the next day.  I can relate to that, I was a bit nervous too.  I told her that she will be fine, just to keep moving forward, silently I was telling myself the same thing.

Race Morning

     We laid out our race gear the night before, so we wouldn’t waste time on race morning fumbling around for a hat, sunglasses or Gu packs.  You also have to decide who early to set the alarm.  Since our hotel, was only about three miles from the RFK Stadium’s parking lot and the race started at 7am, we decided to leave at 5:30, figuring it would give us plenty of time to park the car, check our bags and make a last minute pit stop before the race.  We would have also arrived before the road blocks went up at 6:30. 

     I called the valet at 5:15, so our car would be waiting for us when we got outside.  When we got outside, we got our first hint there might be a problem.  There were five or six runners ahead of us waiting for cars, and only one very-stressed valet on duty. 

     When I asked him about our car, he said there were three or four people ahead of me.  I took a breath and stepped away, we still had time, and it wasn’t 6 am yet.  Several cars arrived, with a long wait in between them, it was now 6:10, and I asked again to check on our car.  He said, “there are still a few ahead of you.” 

     At this point I was getting nervous because it had been almost an hour since I had called for the car.  None of us looked at each other for fear of stressing each other out.  We didn’t come to Washington to run a marathon, and then not make it to the course.  I asked the valet if it was ok for me to go with him and I will drive the car out.  I was told it wasn’t allowed.

     At about 6:15, the valet asked me to come with him.  Upon entering the garage, I immediately saw the problem.  Our car was parked in a corner of the garage with three cars in front of it.  Things were not looking good.

     We did see a way out — but it would be tight.  There was a big double door, used for bringing in deliveries, to get to it we had to first squeeze it through a support column and a wall — it barely made it.  We then had to maneuver the car a bit through the double doors, another tight squeeze requiring us to pull in both the driver and passenger mirrors.  Once through the door, we had to go around a few obstacles on the sidewalk until we got to the street.  I got the car on the street at 6:25.  I looked up and saw Leo, Linda and Esther sprinting down the street carrying the equipment bags.

     Esther got behind the wheel, and we headed to RFK.  We tried to make a right turn onto East Capitol Street, but the police were setting up road blocks and they gave us quick directions on where to go.  So we are in a city we don’t know without a GPS in the car and we are trying to figure out how to get to a place we have only been to once.  We drove on and saw another road block going up, it was not 6:35 and we were running out of options.  We were almost panicked when we asked the officer how to get to RFK’s parking lot, when he just pointed to his right.  It was in front of us. 

     We drove in taking the first available spot parking spot, about a half mile from the armory.  We grabbed our bags and started a light jog to drop off our bags, when Esther realized she forgot her fanny pack.  We told Leo and Linda to go ahead and Esther and I did a full sprint to the car. 

     At the car, we decided to leave our bags, I put the car keys in my fanny pack and we jogged through Parking Lot 7, under the under pass and up the stairs to the starting line.  It was 6:55 when we made it to the first corral.  I was in corral nine, Esther was in corral ten.  We had about 12,000 runners between us and our corrals. 

     It was about 49 degrees out, but we were already warmed up.  Esther took off her sweatshirt and tied it around a light pole.  As the National Anthem was being sung, Esther and I made our way to the back of the pack, ducking and dodging past runners who had not gotten into their corrals either.  We got to the last corral about a minute or two before they starting gun sounded.  I felt a sense of relief as we caught our breath, and then I realized we still have a marathon to run.

The Race

     To qualify for the National Marathon you had to have completed a marathon in less than five hours, due to the logistics of closing the streets of our nation’s capitol.  The streets were closed for six hours.  Standing at the back of the last corral behind about 12,000 runners the six hour course limit could be an important detail.  Did it mean they would pull the mat six hours after the race started or six hours after the last person crossed the starting line?  We didn’t know which.

     Once the race started it took Esther and I 13 minutes to get from the last corral to the start line.  A fist bump and quick kiss for luck and off we went.  We left RFK’s parking lot and headed up East Capitol Street towards the Capitol.  Coming into this race with less training than I would have liked my goal time was 4:37.  Since I wasn’t sure I could run that time I printed two pace bands one for a 4:30 pace, which was on my right wrist and one with a 4:45 pace which was on my left.  The first 19 miles of the course were supposed to be mainly flat, so I wanted to get to 18 miles in 3 hours or less.  That would leave me about 1:30 to 1:40 to deal with the killer hills at the end of the course.

     At mile 2 we passed the Capitol we soon passed the 16 mile marker for the second loop.  A few of us joked, “sixteen miles already, I feel pretty good.”  This being a destination marathon, many runners stopped on the course taking pictures of landmarks and stopping to pose for pictures with friends who met them on the course.  Such an instance happened when I turned right to see what a woman was taking a picture of, it was the White House.

     We continued down Constitution Avenue past the Washington Monument we did a turnaround.  I saw Linda running at a quick comfortable pace.  We each gave a quick wave and kept going.  I kept an eye out for Leo but I didn’t see him, we made a left on 18^th Street Northwest away from the mall.  I focused on the course in front of me, enjoying the fan support.

     There were a few rolling hills but nothing too rough, I enjoyed running through the quaint neighborhoods.  I stopped briefly at a beer stop set up around mile 9 and headed towards Howard University.  The support here might have been better than any other part of the course.  There was a DJ cranking tunes and college coeds holding up signs about looking for men with stamina. 

     I was feeling pretty good as I headed down North Capitol Street towards K Street and H Street where the course got a little rough — the streets were full of potholes due to the rough winter and some construction.  You had to keep one eye head on the course and one eye on the road, being careful where to place your foot to avoid the potholes.  I missed the 11 mile marker completely and just kept going.

     At 12 miles we made the turn on East Capitol Street back towards RFK’s parking lot.  I was in a group of 40 or 50 runners,  most of them were running the half, the group thinned to abut ten as the half marathoners veered off to the right towards their finish line.  I passed the half marathon marker at 2:03:19.  I took a quick break and loaded up on water and Powerade,   I had a GU pack and chased it with more water since the weather was warming up and started the second half of the race.

     As we started the second half of the race, eight us of ran single file to avoid a huge puddle on the course.  I decided to try to stop at every water station and I carried salt packets with me, I planned to take one every three or four water stations.  After running in such a large crowd for the first half, the second half seemed lonely.   As I headed back up East Capitol Street towards the Capitol I saw a long line of half marathoners coming in towards the finish line. 

     As I zipped past miles 16 and 17 pretty good considering I went out faster than I wanted to.  I felt a little tired, but some of it was in my head, as the voices in my head started telling me that I was getting towards the hard part of the race.  As I reached Maine Avenue and the 18 mile marker I looked at my watch it said 2:53, I was seven minutes ahead of my goal time of 3 hours but I wanted to keep moving and take advantage of the flat ground.

     At a water table at about mile 19 there were orange slices fig newtons and other sweets, I stopped and loaded up.  It was here where a volunteer suggested pouring a cup of water over my head to stay cool, I did this before started off again. 

     The 20 mile marker was at the base of the Frederick Douglas Bridge — this is where many runners hit the wall.  I looked over at the Washington National’s ballpark, but my thoughts were not on baseball today, they were on the bridge, the first big hill in the race.  I looked at my watch it was at 3:14:21 and while the hill did not seem that daunting, the surface of the bridge did.  There were rivets on the surface; they seemed like spikes after 20 miles of running. 

     Since my legs were a little tired I decided to walk up the bridge, for fear of tripping and hurting myself.  I planned to ride the downhill but the surface was the same so decided to walk down the hill.  It would have been better if they had carpeted the bridge much like they do on the Willis Avenue Bridge in the Bronx in the New York City Marathon.  I started running again once my feet hit the flat surface. 

     I crossed the 21 mile marker and headed towards Anacostia Park.  The day had warmed to a lovely 70 degrees, up from the 49 degrees at 7 am.  Lovely that is for tourists and spectators — runners like it cool.  Heat seemed to be coming off the Anacostia river. 

     We ran in the park through miles 22 and 23 and we headed through an industrial area towards Minnesota Avenue.  This is where we hit the hills—and they were ugly.  I spent the past 23 miles waiting for the hills, here they were in front of me.  This was the dreaded Calvert Climb.  I still felt pretty good, but I decided to run walk.  I focused on a spot and would run towards it and then I walked a bit.  I repeated this several times, stopping at the water stops.

     At a water stop a 10-year old volunteer handed me a cup of Powerade which slipped through my unsteady hands, bouncing off the floor and splashing his white t-shirt in red liquid.  I felt so bad and apologized to him as I moved on.  My young friend surprised me, he picked up another cup and ran after me with it.   Saying, “you didn’t get your drink, here.”  Wow!  I was stunned and thanked him.

     The worst of the hills ended after 24 miles, it was at this point where one of the police officers on the course said to me, “Buddy you got two miles left and you are looking good.”  I looked at the time on my watch and it said I was at 4:02.  Wow, I thought, I could break 4:30. 

     I headed towards the last bridge and decided to push a bit.  My p.r. was 4:25:56 from last fall’s Philadelphia Marathon, I thought I had a shot at breaking it.  I rode the hairpin turn and headed towards the bridge and headed towards RFK Stadium.  RFK is an old concrete cookie cutter stadium, but right now it looked really good to me.  As I passed the 26 mile marker I looked at my watch it said 4:22:08 and I had the final .2  If I could hold it together I had a personal best.

     I opened up a bit looking for the finish line, I was a little achy and sore but at this point nothing mattered — not even the small uphill I had to climb until I saw the finish line.  I held my pace and finished in 4:24:10.  I felt euphoric, as I slowed down and the put the finisher’s medal around my neck.

     As I cooled down, my legs felt like lead.  I stopped for water and a few bananas and kept walking so I wouldn’t tighten up.  I saw Linda in line to get a post race massage.  I asked her how she did, she said the clock said 4:19 when she crossed the line, but since Linda doesn’t wear a watch, we didn’t know her actual time — we wouldn’t know for awhile.  I told her I was going to wait for Leo and Esther.  I also started to worry, because at this point, they did not announce if the six-hour time limit meant from the starting horn or from when the last runner crossed the starting line. 

     I walked up the line a bit and waited pacing, partially to keep from tightening up and partly because I was anxious as I waited for my teammates to finish.  About an hour after I finished I saw Leo trotting in, he was hurting but he had a slight smile on his face.  I told him Linda was ok and he had to climb the last hill and he was done.  Shortly after Leo passed me, the announcement was made that the course was open until 1:15 to allow for the runners at the back of the pack.  Now I started smiling as I waited for Esther.

     I waited a stressful twenty-two minutes until I picked out the bright pink cap Esther was wearing as she came towards me.  I was the happiest I was all day as I shuffled towards her and told her she was almost there.  She looked spent, but she kept moving towards the line, she finished in 5:47:17.  I got to see her cross the line and I went towards the finish tent where I met her and we hugged.

At the end of another marathon in front of the race sign.

  Post Race

     We all met up after the race and took our post race pictures.  We talked about our favorite parts of the course and called friends and family to let them know we finished the race and we were all alright.   We then did the slow past race walk back to the car for the ride back to the hotel. 

     It wasn’t until a post-race shower and nap that Esther and I went online to see the race results.  We wanted to see what Linda’s time was.  After much searching we saw Linda finished in 4:08:10, she missed qualifying for the Boston Marathon my three minutes. 

     We decided to have dinner and our post-race celebration in the hotel.  We donned our race t-shirts and medals, our post marathon tradition and ordered dinner.  After burning over 4000 calories, we decided to ditch the diet for tonight.  Leo and I ordered a few Corona, Mexican pain killer, and we talked about Linda’s time.  We started talking about races, for Linda where she can make up those 3 minutes.  For now that would have to wait and chowed down on burgers, chicken rings and guacamole.

Our Post Marathon Tradition, going out to dinner in out race t-shirts and wearing our medals, our bling.