This is one marathon I'll never forget. Depending on who you listen to, the Heart of America Marathon in Columbia, MO, is one of the toughest courses in North America, if not the toughest. One person said that the only ones that are tougher are any that are actual mountain courses. After today, I'm a believer.
First, the official statistics. The temperature was great at around 60 degrees, and the sun never showed during the race. However, I'd estimate the humidity at 80-85% based on the fog at the beginning of the race and which never totally burned off. More on that later. My time according to Garmin, which was right on with the pace announcers during the race, was 4:18:30. And I was fortunate to come in that fast.
Let's start with yesterday. On the drive to Columbia, my front left tire blew out at 70 mph on I-70. Not a fun experience, let me just say. As my dad said tonight, that probably took a little of the adrenaline out of my system that I could have used today. It took awhile to get to sleep, as usual the night before a race, and then the idiots in the room above at the hotel came in at midnight and tromped around like circus elephants. I awoke at 5 and headed over to the starting line at 5:30. I met a guy named Todd from Chicago who is running a marathon in all 50 states, and he's done 28 so far. Cool.
The race started in the dark and the fog, and the organizers had provided blinking red lights to everyone so no one would get hit by a car. As far as I know their plan worked. Since it was dark I didn't wear my new Bolle prescription glasses until about the sixth mile, but I will say it was sure nice to be able to see clearly during a race. The first half of the race was mostly downhill, with a few small hills. These downhill slopes were to prove my undoing later on.
I remember realizing about two miles in that I was sweating. That seemed odd to me since the temperature was so low, and it was then that I realized how humid it was. I tried to maintain a 9-minute/mile pace and was mostly successful with that during the first half. At mile seven the course turned down a country road that was largely under a canopy of overhanging old trees. It was very nice, but for at that point my legs felt heavy and I was having trouble maintaining pace without conscious thought. Again, I realized the humidity was having a negative effect. A little later we ran beside the Missouri River, and the scenery was great with the fog and placid water.
Right about the halfway point on this course there is a hill. Or maybe a mountain. It's referred to as Easley Hill, and it was a beast. I don't know if anyone can actually run the hill. Some of the organizers were talking to people in front of me and they said even the race leaders walked the hill. It's the kind of slope that would be awesome if it was covered with snow and you were sledding down it. On second thought, it would actually be too dangerous for that. I joined the crowd and walked the hill.
From then on it was figuratively all downhill. A few miles later I started experiencing calf cramps, a result of all the downhill running. I've had that happen before, most notably in Alamogordo on a training run. It took a couple of times for me to realize why it was happening. Yeah, oxygen-deprived brain and all - go ahead, make fun of me. Once I arrived home and plugged in the Garmin, I counted about a dozen times that I had to stop and walk off a cramp, not counting water stations. It was incredibly frustrating. After all those starts and stops I finally levelled out at Mile 24 and finished without having to walk.
Usually cramps are an indication of not being hydrated enough, but I don't think that was the case since I drank plenty yesterday as well as during the race. Let me just say I was extremely glad to cross the finish line. I certainly feel like I earned this medal.
I also think of this as the Roadkill Marathon. I can't count the number of possums I saw splattered on the pavement, as well as older roadkill by the sides of the road. I feel sorry for anyone who ran this and had a week stomach.
At the finish I grabbed a bagle and plenty to drink. After two bites the bagel turned mealy and I was done, but the Gatorade was good. This race had a couple of big plastic tubs filled with ice water, so I doffed my socks and shoes and sat in the water for 7-8 minutes. Man, that felt good. So did the extremely hot shower back at the hotel. I think I must have stood under the shower head for thirty minutes.
At the end of the day I'm tired and a little bit sore. After leaving the hotel I went to Ace Hardware and bought some wire so I could keep a bundle of wires from rubbing against the left front tire, and then I ate at Hardee's as a nice treat. Tonight we had steak and shrimp, aka surf 'n' turf, as well as some ice cream my lovely wife bought to celebrate the finish.
I know that when they experience a race that's somewhat of a letdown some people make plans to go back next year and do better. I'm not one of those people. I enjoyed the organization of the race, including the pre-race buffet and program, but I'm content to say that I've run and finished one of the toughest courses around and to leave it at that. I certainly wouldn't say it was a fun race with all the cramping I experienced, but I sure did learn a few lessons. I'm looking forward to the next race in November where if conditions are right I hope to set a PR.
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