Omaha Marathon 2008 Part 3: The Race!

(“So now we come to it: a detailed recounting of the marathon itself!” “Are you going to take us through all 26.2 miles?” “No. Just the most memorable parts, for better or worse.” “I get it. The thrill of victory, and the agony of the feet.” “Watch it! One more pun like that and you’ll lose me my fan base!”)

I’ve trained pretty hard over the last couple of years to not shoot out too fast at the start of a race, and I’ve gotten pretty good at it. I had my Garmin on my left wrist and my pace band on my right, so I knew how fast I wanted each mile to go, and I stuck within a few seconds of my splits for the first 6 mile loop. I ran with Kari for awhile at the start, enjoying the company and taking it easy. I was feeling strong and confident, and didn’t even mind as the course wound its way towards the starting zone and that first big hill again (“Although it was kind of trippy, seeing the signs marked ‘Mile 25’ and realizing I still had 19 to go.” “You’d think they could have waited until after everyone had made the first pass before putting those out.”). I saw my family fan club just past the point where the 10K course split towards the finish area, which was a nice confidence booster that carried me through the next several miles.

Starting at about mile 8 (“Still running on pace?” “More or less. That Garmin is a lifesaver.”) I began seeing my teammates who were running the half marathon, coming back from their turnaround and heading into their final 5K. First I saw Coach David, looking strong and tearing down the same hill I was powering up. Then, practically on each others’ heels, I saw Rose, Jen, and Al, every one looking tall and strong (“Did Al finish within ten minutes of Jen?” “He did. I’ve never seen the big guy so happy.”). I slapped fives and shouted words of encouragement, feeling high as a kite myself.

As the course wound its way south towards the Henry Doorly Zoo, past the point where the half marathon course turned back, I found myself virtually alone. I could see a few runners in the distance, and barely heard the sounds of others behind me. Running through the zoo itself was nice, if a bit of a challenge because of the hills. I heard birds squawking as I ran past a giant pond, but other than that no real sounds of wildlife (“Stupid nature! Sleep on your own time!” “Wow. Nine pages before your first Simpsons(TM) reference. That’s gotta be some kind of record.”).

Coming out of the zoo, the course turned north. My focus was pretty internal at that point, as I was concentrating on keeping my pace up the long hill, so I don’t remember much of it. In fact nothing terribly memorable happened until I lost my right nipple band-aid at about mile 18. But again, was so focused on my pace (which was starting to slip at that point) that I didn’t even recognize the pain for what it was until mile 20. I started asking spectators and policemen alike if anyone had a band-aid, and it wasn’t until mile 21 that a cop finally put me out of my nippular misery (“You completely passed over seeing some of the parade at breakfast on Saturday, which was a pleasant memory for the whole group, but you spend a paragraph on this?!” “You’ll notice I haven’t said anything about my blistering thigh chafeage.”)

By the time I got to mile 20 I was in a pretty bad way for another reason, too. I’d let myself become dehydrated to the point that my legs were shaking under me, and I slowed to a walk out of fear of collapsing. Occasionally I would try jogging, but could only cover a small distance before the shakes started up again. Between that and the energy-sapping heat that arose during that last 10K, I’m afraid I didn’t exactly cover myself in glory. But I was determined to have a strong finish, and with about a mile and a half to go I cranked up the juice and started running again, ignoring any pain or spasms I might encounter.

I turned onto Cuming just before mile 25 (“Bet you weren’t sorry to see that sign this time.”). Half a mile past that, as the course turned right and headed back to the staging area, I saw Jill in the distance, cheering me on (“Thanks, Jill!”). I picked up my stride and soon saw Merrill (“Thanks, Merrill!”). Just before the course split towards the finish, I saw a whole Runner’s Edge contingent, smiling, waving, taking pictures, and cheering (“Thanks, Coach David, Dan, Jim, Al, Barb, Tara, Laura, Jen, Karen, Lana, Rose, Susan, and Steve!” “Did you get everyone?” “God, I hope so. If I missed you, please let me know.”). A final burst of speed for the last 0.2 miles, and there were my dad and sister screaming and taking pictures as I crossed the finish line (“Thanks, Dad and Sara!”). I had done it: I had finished my fourth marathon (“And well before 3:00, to boot!”).

It really was a fantastic, successful, and enjoyable trip. Everybody had a great time. Some testimonials:

• Karen (half marathon PR!): “I knew I would set a new PR at mile 10. That was the best part of the race for me.”


• Tara (full marathon): “I liked running through the shaded section just past the zoo.”


• Kerri (half marathon): “I felt my best at the ConAgra campus at mile 8.”


• Jen (half marathon): “I liked the long uphill before the turnaround. It reminded me of the Loretto Heights speed workout.”


• Dan (full marathon PR!): “The shaded section on the back side of the zoo was very nice, but there was random furniture that I wondered about. Didn’t the monkeys like their couch?”


• Jason (first full marathon, finished 8th overall!): “At mile 14, I was in the zone, running through the crowd, not sure who was running the half or the full, just lost in the people.”


• Coach David: “Seeing all you guys finish was the best part of the whole weekend.”

So there you have it. That’s my tale of the 2008 Omaha Marathon, complete with running commentary and sound bites from my teammates. Coach David is looking at doing the Oklahoma City Marathon next April. You can be sure I’ll be along, and I hope most of the Omaha road trip alumni (several of whom are also Kansas City road trip alumni) will as well. Thanks for reading!

Click here to see my pictures from the weekend.