Update - May 12

I will be AWOL Sunday, but have suggested to Chris that he should pass on anything he feels would be of interest on this Sunday's run.  I am passing along some info on this week's happenings:

 

Guess whom I saw?

Yesterday I came upon Liz and a colleague retuning to work after lunch.  Liz is primed for Florida International Triathlon at Sarasota's Siesta Key this Saturday.  Great to see you Liz, and good luck with your race!!!  Let us know how you do and--Y'all come back soon!

 

Heard from Seth

"Thanks for your regular updates and the shout out below. I'm gone for a while yet but will rejoin our group whenever I'm in town. I have ultras most weekends this summer. The full schedule of what's coming and what already happened is linked in the signature block below."

http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~sethe/MarathonStatesMap.html
Seth.Elsheimer@ucf.edu

 

Soon to return-  Christy

For those of you who have not met Christy, she is a delightful young lady who joined us in June of 2008. Christy is a cancer survivor who had decided that she was going to run her first marathon and raise money for the cause.  She trained with our group for the next five months prior to the 2008 New York City Marathon and then ran a great race.

 

She plans to come join us soon after being AWOL for a spell.  Given her busy schedule in "Show Biz", she has been granted conditional amnesty provided she "Shows Up" soon. (How is this for putting the pressure on you, Christy??)

 

I am reprinting below some excerpts from her wonderful chronicle of her first marathon experience.  It is both funny and inspiring as she shares her significant victory and demonstrates her courage and ability to overcome obstacles.  It is well worth reading her success story:

 

12/26/08 report from Christy on her first marathon in New York City

"My alarm went off at 3am and I rolled out of bed with a good 7 hours under my belt.  I had everything laid out, and my pre approved marathon bag was full of everything I needed for the day.  My cell phone, my running number, a book, a disposable camera, a banana, and a bagel all seemed appropriate.  I was ready to go at 3:30 and my mom insisted on accompanying me to the bus stop, as she was sure I would get mugged along the way.  Thanks to Peggy's amazing hotel that she shared with us... I was a mere few blocks down and couple blocks over from the NY public library where I had to board my bus for Staten Island at 4am.  Once we emerged onto Times Square it was obvious that I would not be alone.  There were runners all over the streets. So many people like me, with their marathon bags in hand, headed toward 42nd street.  Fears lifted, mom kissed me good luck and turned back, and I made friends with a lesbian from Australia who was rather chatty considering the early hour.  It was my charming non makeup-ed face that peaked her interest, no doubt.  :)
The line for the buses was long, but well organized, and I was on my way in relatively no time at all.  Off we went to Staten Island.  It was dark and there were signs directing us to our holding areas.  I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing and found myself staring blankly at a large directorial of some sort that might have well been in Japanese for all the good it was doing me.  Before long, another confused gal found her way to the same spot, and then another.  We are all staring up at this thing and then we look at each other and discover we all have the same bib color.  Orange.  That was us.  We all found great comfort knowing we were headed for the same place even though none of us really knew where that was.  We happily traipsed off to find our spot, confident that we would in the 6 hours we had before our start time.  Yes, 6 hours.  You read that correctly.
Thus began my journey with Charlie from England and Stephanie from Scotland.  I believe it was Charlie that guided us to the right spot and once we knew where we were going, we set off to find bagels and tea.  We brought our stash back to the tent (I use the term loosely, as it was really just an overhead cover, and the 40 degree winds were whipping through chilling us to the core).  We had trash bags which we used to sit on and I crawled inside one and made it a jacket.  It didn't help.  We were freezing.  The three of us spent the next 5 hours pouring through Stephanie's magazines, waiting in line at the porto-potty's, taking turns getting more tea and bagels, laughing at the guy dressed up as buzz lightyear, and taking fun pictures.  We also realized that we all run at relatively the same speed.  Charlie had a start time of 10am, and Stephanie and I were both at 10:10, so Charlie decided to hang back and start with us. 
I have no idea what time it was when we actually started making our way to the corral line ups.  It was hilarious to see the discarded clothing.  It was EVERYWHERE.  People literally just take off pieces and throw them as they go.  We were no exception.  It was SO cold we debated what we would keep on and what we wouldn't, and what could wait until the last possible moment.  We laughed as we peeled off the layers and tossed them to the volunteers that were collecting the clothing.  Before we knew it, we could see the start line, and the three of us set off together to cross the Verrazano Narrows bridge.  I have never in my life seen so many people.  When we reached the crest of the bridge, you cannot imagine the amount of people we could see stretched out in front of us.  It was utterly amazing.  I couldn't stop laughing and telling the girls "this is SO cool!", because it absolutely was.  Charlie had her camera and would dash in front of us to turn back around and take pictures. 
Charlie and Stephanie both wanted to finish the marathon in 4 hours and 30 minutes.  This was nothing I had ever dreamed about.  I only wanted to finish.  I had certainly thought on occasion that it would be great to finish in less than 5 hours... but I also thought that as long as the bus didn't come along and scoop me up because I was too slow, that was fine with me.  With their excitement I started to think about it, and realized that we could absolutely do it in 4 hours and 30 minutes.  So that became our goal.  There are these 'pacers' in marathons... people who, for some ungodly known reason, know exactly how fast to run to complete a marathon in a certain amount of time. 3 hours, 3 30, 3 45, 4, 415, 4 30, 4 45... and they have that number on their back and they carry balloons so people can keep up with them and meet their time goal.  We had started in the back of the pack for our time group, so no doubt the pacers were way ahead of us, but lo and behold we sure did come upon the 4:45 group somewhere around mile 10, and we passed them.  I look at the girls and I say "Great!!  Now we just have to go get those 4 30'ers" which I really thought we could do.  I think at that point Charlie and Stephanie had given up on the dream.  They trudged along with me for the next 4 miles and then at the water stop we lost each other.  I turned back to look for them, but they were lost in the sea of people... so off I went to do the next 12 on my own.
Never was I ever on my own, though.  There were people at every stretch of the race, cheering the runners on.  It was mile 8 that I saw mom and Peggy and Christina.  Yes, I saw THEM.  They didn't see me, until I passed them and screeched "MOM!!!!!!!!!!"  Their heads turned in my direction and I think there was great relief on my mom's face when she saw that I was still breathing, and smiling, no less.  They had signs for me and for Charlie and Stephanie.  I could not stop smiling.  That encounter surely gave me motivation to keep going.  So did the bands, and church choirs, and ladies with orange slices, and people shouting my name (it was on my shirt), and the big fat guy that screamed "WELCOME TO BROOKLUUN!!!!!!!" as we crossed over a bridge.
It was at mile 23 that I saw the 4 30 pacer girl.  She came from BEHIND me.  How on earth?  I suppose they must have stopped for a pee break and I somehow went by them.  Now, however, they were going by me.  I realized by my watch that I was going to have to pick up my pace if I was actually going to accomplish this thing in 4 hours and 30 minutes.  But they were RIGHT there.  Right in front of me.  All I had to do was keep up with them.  It was impossible.  I watched as they continued to put distance between us and I could not will my legs to go any faster.  All I could do was will them to not buckle underneath me because they certainly wanted to.  They had wanted to for the last three miles.  They didn't though.  They carried me through Central park, and up (yes UP... stupid hill in the last stinkin mile!) to the finish line. 
It was amazing, my friends.  It will remain one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life, and I look forward to what will top it.
To those of you that contributed financially to my cause, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I raised $3300 for the Young Survivor Coalition."

 

Jack