OKC Marathon 2008!!Wendy Hazelwood took these pics for me with her smokin' new camera! Thanks to Wendy for being My Head Sherpa, Curb Service Chauffeur in the rain, and for being the Best Cheerleader ever! As most of you have already heard, I had the race of my life this past Sunday in OKC! The weather was crazy chilly for April in OKC, but after our near death heatstroke in Chicago, I gladly accepted the gift from mother nature! The marathon started at 6:30 AM, so Wendy and I were up at 4:15Am, and my sweet mother in law and father in law, awoke with us, just to "see us off" and to make sure Wendy had a whole large thermos of coffee in tow for the journey. We headed South on I35 from Guthrie down into Oklahoma City. It was raining pretty steady so Wendy dropped me at the curb near the start line and she went off to park the car (What a great friend!) We met up with our Dallas buddy Biegel who would be running the Half! Even though temps were in the 40's and it was still raining, I stripped off my jacket, extra shirt and gave it all up at bag check. I tried to stay warm as it was still drizzling and pretty windy. Then, a nice opening ceremony began including 168 seconds of silence to remember those lost in the OKC bombing. Here is a blurb from the website that describes the the meaning behind this memorial marathon, and with the events of the past month in my life and friends of mine, I found it very fitting:
"On April 19, 1995, a great wrong was done in Oklahoma City. However, on this day in April the forces of fear and hate were beaten by love and compassion.The Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon is a race that is not about running—it is about life.168 banners line the marathon course, one for each victim. Those banners serve to remind us as we run that we have been given the gift of life and that it is too precious to waste. This is what the Memorial Marathon is about: realizing the preciousness of time, valuing one another, taking life as it comes and making something magic from it. Celebrating Life. You don’t have to be a runner to participate in the Memorial Marathon. All you have to do is change the world you live in one moment, one opportunity, one person at a time. It is not about running—it is about living."
I read this the night before I left town and it was very inspirational. As many of you know, my friends have a son, Gavin, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. In the past month their lives have been turned upside down and it has made all of us that know them really think about life, faith, family, friends, and making the very best of each and every moment. So, with Gavin in my mind and on my heart, I headed to the start line wanting to honor the battle he is fighting!
I tried to really stick to my plan this time of starting out slow... (only took me 11 marathons to learn that this really works!) I won't bore you with all the details of each mile, but I can't say I have ever felt better in a marathon. I trained really hard this time, thanks to lots of help from my coach, Stacy. Also, I have a developed a different sense of focus and determination since I turned 30, which has changed me in alot of ways. Anyway, the race really just flew by for me because for the most part I was feeling so great. Yes, there were some pretty hilly sections, some stiff winds occasionally, some periods of intense fatigue. But, the greatest thing about this marathon was that all of these negative aspects were just fleeting moments throughout the miles, none of them ever lingering or consuming me. Before I knew it, I was approaching mile 20, and there was Wendy cheering me on, coming up and running beside me! She and I both knew I had never run a race this well before, and she was so excited for me! She yelled out, "I talked to your mom, and she said to tell you Good Luck!" That just made me even happier. It just happened to be my mom's birthday for this fine race day. And, even though she could not be physically there, I was motivated to make her birthday a great day regardless! I looked at my watch at mile 20 and I knew that I would likely meet my goal to qualify for Boston unless something crazy happened. Then, I also realized that I had been holding back a little waiting to reach this point, and before I knew it I was speeding up focused on just a 10K to get me to the finish! I will always treasure the way I was able to finish this marathon, because you never know if you will ever feel that great at the end again. It is the first time in 11 tries for me, but I will savor every moment! I got close to the finish and I was even able to sprint a little and it felt so great, I got tears in my eyes and I just raised my hands up in the air and smiled up to the clouds and at the time clock :) Well, somehow I clocked a 3:33 on this fine day... 15 minutes less than my last PR (3:48). I still can't believe it! I have always secretly wanted to qualify for Boston, but in my 20's I wasn't always the kind of person to really focus and really go for it. I ran several marathons not trained well and several where things went pretty well, but not quite well enough. I have run some of the big marathons multiple times, some of the flattest marathons, and even hometown Whiterock 3 times. OKC is not a big marathon, not a glamorous marathon, and definitely not a flat marathon, but with the weather and the timing of many events in my life, it turned out to be The Best Marathon for me this April 2008!
Here is a link if you want to see some other pics from the marathon:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristina.mrtn1/OKCMARATHON
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