I ran my first marathon on Saturday, February 14, 2009 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and finished!  It was an amazing experience.  I trained for this race for the past few months, Jen and Peyton helping me on all of my long runs (14, 16, 18 and 20 mile runs) and supporting me throughout my training.  What a great team!

The start was a little chilly at fifty degrees.  Jen and Peyton woke up with me at 4:30am.  They drove me to the starting line where I waited with six thousand other runners and walkers.  I found a nice warm spot with about twenty other runners next to a generator until the start of the race.  At this point I was feeling nervous, but really happy.  I talked to this guy who was running his ninety-ninth marathon.  When I told him that this was my first marathon he acted more impressed than I did when he told me how many he had run.  What a crazy bunch of people I have joined...

Miles one through five were perfect, not too fast and not too slow.  Miles six through ten felt great - I was a little ahead of my pace.  I was thinking to myself that this is a piece of cake!  Miles eleven through thirteen were wonderful.  Mile thirteen was a little hard as the runners of the Half Marathon approached their finish line (this is a little daunting when you know you have another half to go).  Fourteen and Fifteen seemed fine and I was now counting down the miles (only eleven miles to go!).

At mile sixteen the first sign of trouble hit; my left calf started to cramp.  I kept thinking, "This is not happening."  I slowed a little and the cramp seemed to go away.  Just then I hit mile seventeen.  I could see Jen and Peyton standing in front of our hotel waiving and smiling.  What an incredible feeling that was.  I was filled with so much joy.  Jen came out and gave me a quick hug and kiss.  Peyton watched me with big bright eyes and it made me feel like a hero!  This was the best.

Miles eighteen through twenty were getting hard.  I felt great from seeing Jen and Peyton, but I was worried about the cramps.  I drank and ate everything I could throughout the race, but it was not enough.  At mile twenty-one my legs cramped up again.  This was the worst pain I had ever felt.  It felt like marbles were rolling around in my calves.  I slowed down and I tried to change strides, but nothing seemed to help.  As I came to mile twenty-two I was thinking "Why did I do this?  What is wrong with me?  What made me think I could do a marathon?"  It was at this point that I felt that I could go no further; I wanted to quit.  I saw the first aid station and as I passed it, another runner asked me if I need to go back to get checked out.  I made the decision to go on.  I knew that if I stopped I would never be able to continue running.  So I kept running, then the rain started to fall. 

Miles twenty-two through twenty-four are a blur.  I know that I was thinking about Jen and Peyton waiting for me at the finish line.  I was thinking about all the work I had put in for this race and the support Jen had given me while I went running for hours at a time.  Then I saw the marker for mile twenty-five.  At this point I knew I could finish the race. 

Mile twenty-six flew by until I saw the final shoot for the last two tenths of a mile.  I had no idea I would be so emotional about finishing this race.  Then I heard my name over the loud speaker and at the same time I saw Jen and Peyton waiting for me at the finish line.  Jen had tears in her eyes and that sent me off the deep end.  This was, at once, one of the most incredible and most painful moments of my life.

Finishing the race in four hours and twenty-seven minutes was not the goal I had originally set.  But the feeling of accomplishment, pride and joy of finishing the race was better than anything I could have ever imagined.