My First Half Marathon

I am not really sure why I have always wanted to run a marathon. It’s probably the desire to accomplish something that is pretty difficult to do. 10 years ago, after training months for the Marine Corps marathon in D.C., I backed out with a few weeks to go as I could no longer make the time commitment to the long weekly run. After coming so close, I never thought I would try again. But the day after getting the shock news that my brother had suffered a stroke, I decided it was time to finally do this.

It was a chilly and dark start to the day in downtown Detroit as I waited patiently in the corral at the start line. After running week in week out all alone, it was a strange feeling to be surrounded by thousands of other runners. And this was combined with a sense of excitement for being a part of something big. OK I was only doing the half marathon, but as someone had said to me the day before “hey, that’s half more than I am running”.

Running a course that spans from the US into Canada and back to the US (it even sounds like a long distance) was a truly cool experience. As the sun came up behind the city as we crossed the Ambassador Bridge, the view was truly inspiring. Despite the hard times that have hit the city, Detroit put on her best face for the day.

A little bit after coming out of the tunnel that took us back to the US side, we came upon the biggest raccoon I have ever seen - dead as a doornail - right smack in the middle of the street. It was bizarre that nobody had felt the need to move it from the course. Only in Detroit can 20,000 people step over fresh road kill without blinking an eyelid.

At the 10mile marker I felt very strong and fresh and picked up my pace considerably. I overtook the 9.10min/mile pace team and felt comfortable that I would easily finish under 2 hours. It was a bit of a disappointment to later learn that I had missed my goal by 36 seconds. I am kicking myself for downing a Gatorade before the start. Because of that I ended up waiting in line for a port-o-john for several minutes midway through the race.

Close to the end I passed the sobering scene of medical staff giving CPR to one of my fellow runners with great urgency. It was with great sadness that I learned later that he had passed away. (Daniel Langdon RIP aged 36).

Overall it was a day full of emotion and excitement topped with a pretty good sense of accomplishment. So onward we go with training for the full marathon.