My First Marathon in Pictures

The day finally arrived, October 6th 2013, the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon--my first marathon!  I was still under the weather morning of, but I took in a 5:30am nebulizer treatment and crossed my fingers.  I met my Team Worldvision mates in the church parking lot as AC/DC blared out my '87 Chevy S10 speakers.  We gathered for one last pep-talk before loading into 2 vans and heading to Minneapolis.  There are some very inspiring people in that group!

Though church is a mere 4 miles from the finish line, we left the comforts of home in St. Paul to traverse the Mighty Mississipi to start at the soon-to-be-demolished Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Downtown Minneapolis.

After a brief early morning church service at First Covenant Minneapolis (next to the Metrodome), I parted ways with my church friends and began enjoying the perks of corporate sponsorship--my other team is my employer's Allina Health Run Club.  I met some nice folks along the way until finally the gun sounded and 12 minutes later I crossed the starting line.  Within 1/2 mile I new it was going to be a long day because I was sicker and weaker than I had hoped.  Regardless, I moved along at a decent pace, through incredible traffic, until the first highlight of the run at Mile 8.  Kelly, Piyada, and my mother-in-law Lori devised a meticulous plan to cheer me on from three different locations, and it worked, and I needed it!

Off I went with fresh energy.....but then, I think my medicine from 3 1/2 hours earlier began to wear off.  I started wheezing and getting fatigued from expending lots of energy trying to breathe what were ultimately low quality breaths.  I stopped around Mile 14 to take 2 good puffs of my inhaler and I was off again, though at a slower pace.  Thankfully 4 miles later I saw my cheering section again!

From there I was on my own to trudge toward the finish.  When healthy I was aiming for a finish time between 3:30 (best case scenario) and 3:45 (good, but realistic).  Well, at Mile 16 I was still very much in the neighborhood of my goal.  Strava shows just how things shifted at Mile 16!  Call it hitting the "wall" with a big viral, asthmatic cherry on top.

Click for Mile by Mile data

The dreaded Summit Ave hill from miles 20-23 kicked my already kicked butt.  It was nothing but willpower from 23-Finish.  I made a point to not quit a single training run early this entire year, because I knew that if I set any precedent for puss'n out, it would certainly want to reemerge on Summit Ave.  Lets just say I wasn't waving at the fans and doing cartwheels, but....steady....forward....progress.  Eventually, I passed the Governor's Mansion, James J. Hill's Mansion, and the Bishop's Mansion at Mile 26, and it was all downhill from there, literally.

Piya waiting for me to come down Cathedral Hill

The Finish Line with MN State Capitol in background

And finally I arrived at the finish satisfied to not be at United Hospital on a ventilator and to have finished under 4 hours.  Here I am passing Mile 26.  I'm the guy behind the shirtless guy.

Here is a video of me crossing the Finish.  My first marathon, of hopefully many, was in the books!  And the celebration ensued.

Stay tuned for a "what I learned" post and much, much more.  Including a preview of Grandma's 2014:)