We Ran a Marathon!!

Monday was the big day, and We Finished!

But to tell the story I will start at the beginning. We woke up at 5:20 and got ready to go. I was so nervous I couldn’t even think! We got our stuff together, loaded it in the car and we were off! Traffic wasn’t bad at all until we got right downtown. But we found parking very easily, and started to get ready. We purposely got down there about 45 minutes early so that we would have time to get ready. Nathan really fights blisters and he discovered that Duct Tape was the best medicine! He taped up his feet and we got our shoes on, pinned on our bibs, and last but not least, took our Ibuprofen, and we were off to the start line!

We got there about 5 minutes early, perfect time to line up. We were told we could check items in at the start line, so we went up to a race official and asked him where that was. His answer: “Oh that is about 3 blocks away on 3rd and Flower”. Oh dear! We took off the other direction to check in our keys and camera. By the time we got back the race had begun. Honestly, I was glad we were a little late. It made it seem more like a fun jog instead of a race (sounds so competitive). We got there in time to begin with the walkers in the back. It was really fun weaving around people and finding places we could actually run. It was funny because I would weave and then turn around and realize Nathan got stuck behind. But then all of the sudden he would be in front of me because he went out and around and I was totally stuck in the middle. We had a blast running around people and just taking in this huge crowd! It took about 3 miles to thin out enough to be able to find a place on the road to move, but then the race course narrowed considerably. There was construction in the middle of the road and so they had us running on just half of it. It created the weaving predicament all over again! It wasn’t until around mile 6 that we found our pace permanently.

There were live bands all along the course. Some of them were really fun and really created a beat to run too. There were also a lot of radio stations playing music. Periodically along the course they also had High School Cheerleading Squads! They didn’t really have any cheers; they were just yelling and cheering. Too bad, I was hoping for some serious Marathon cheers!

I really enjoyed running a new course. I have never really been into downtown LA so everything looked new. The course took us through Compton, past the Coliseum, USC, and across 2 freeways! One of our favorite parts of the course was the diversity that you saw. We went through older neighborhoods and really rich neighborhoods. Also, there were very ethnic areas. First we went through an area where almost all of the spectators were African American. I loved this part, they had such rhythm to their cheers and you really felt their excitement and energy! Next we passed through an area mostly populated with Latinos. They cheered for us in Spanish and Nathan got to translate for me! Then we passed through a very affluent area. Finally, we passed through Koreatown. We loved the neighborhoods the most, the people came out of their houses and cheered us on! They all had food and water for us as well. They were passing out orange slices, bananas, watermelon, candy, and ice. In Koreatown they were even offering breads and other Korean foods. I wanted to try it so bad, but we passed by them around mile 22 and I was just too tired and worn out to want to eat anything. One lady in one of the neighborhoods, even had her hose on and was spraying those that wanted it!

The course was a lot more hilly than I had anticipated, being an urban marathon. I would still consider it a flat one overall, but the hills that were there were mean! They were long and so subtle, you had no idea you were going uphill, and they continued for miles. This is a video of the actual course that someone posted on YouTube.

LA Marathon Course 2009 - YouTube

Nathan and I had a blast running the whole thing together and cheering each other on when it got hard. There were moments where one of us had to walk and the other kept going, but without fail, the other would end up running again and pass the first. We went on like that for miles, and it was so fun to always end up back together. Around mile 14 I really needed to use the bathroom. I was so worried that if I did, I would lose him for the rest of the race. Well, around this time he also needed to fill up his water bottle. I told him I was going to keep going and use the next bathrooms. But then I hesitated, wondering if I really wanted to do that. He stopped to get his bottle filled up and I went on, luckily there were bathrooms right past the water station so I decided to use them. When I came back out he was nowhere to be found. I thought for sure I had lost him, so after looking around for a second, I took off and started going. But up there, probably about a quarter mile ahead, there he was looking back for me! I couldn’t believe we found each other out of the throngs of people. I was so excited! When I finally caught up, we had a good laugh. He thought I might have skipped the bathrooms and was way ahead of him so he was running ahead looking for me! Oops!

The miles just kept flying by, until about mile 18. This was the first time I had to stop and walk a little, and it was also when Nathan started to hit the wall. Speaking of the wall, I have decided that it is an illusion! Trust me, there is definitely something that makes it harder, but calling it a wall just didn’t do it for either of us! For Nathan it was about 18-21 and for me it was about 21-24. During this time we just felt like we were giving all we had and more! It was so hard to keep moving forward. It hurt to jog, but it also hurt to walk! We started slowing down a lot. At one point, I asked Nathan if he had seen the Mile 25 marker. He hadn’t either, so we were pretty sure we hadn’t missed it. However, we both concluded that they must have skipped it because we had been running way longer than a mile since mile 24! Then we turned a corner and off in the distance you could see the 25 sign! AHHH!!!

But we made it, wall and all! When we hit the 25 we decided we were close enough that we would just push it to the end. When we finally turned the corner and could see the finish line in the distance, I started to take off. Nathan yelled up at me “Save it!” He was right, there was still well over a half mile left! As we got closer and closer to the finish line the crowd was getting louder and louder. Everything started to feel exciting again. Nathan heard his name and looked over to see his parents in the crowd cheering us on! They got really good spots right by the finish line!

The feeling as we crossed the finish line was indescribable! Everything hurt, and I yet I felt like I could do anything! WE FINISHED!!!!


Once we crossed they put medals around our necks and then handed us foil blanket things. They were to keep our muscles warm, so we wrapped them around our legs. Then they just started handing us food like you wouldn’t believe. They gave us water bottles, Gatorade, Bananas, Oranges, Cliff Bars, Cashews, and all kinds of other things! It was great!

When we got all we wanted and had walked around a fair amount, we headed out to the “family reunion” area. We met up with Nathan’s parents and enjoyed the live band for a little while.
Then we headed back to our apartment for a fun BBQ with Hamburgers, 3 Bean Salad, Watermelon, and Corn on the cob! It was perfect because we were both starving! We also had to keep walking around and stretching because our legs were so sore!

Even today, 2 days later, I am walking around like a 90 year old woman with my bum in the air and teeny tiny wobbly steps! Overall we came out fairly unscathed. Besides the sorest legs I have ever had! We only had Blisters to deal with. But for Nathan that was nothing little. This is his worst blister he had!


A few other things I wanted to remember about the marathon:

*Shoe Tags: They had everyone put the orange tags on their shoe. They had computer chips in them that began timing when we crossed the start line. There were periodic ‘pads’ we had to run over throughout the course of the race so that we could be tracked online. Our official Time, as tracked online, was 4:54! Sub-5, Baby!!


*They had this incredible numbing spray. The first time they had it was around mile 22 and then again at the finish line. I didn’t really believe it, but my legs hurt so bad I was willing to try anything. They sprayed it all up and down your legs wherever you requested and within 2-3 seconds you had instant relief! It was some sort of menthol spray, but it really made it so I could run an additional 15-20 minutes before all of the aching and pain came back into my legs!

*Hygiene. Around the 2nd mile of the race someone bumped up against me. I was totally grossed out, I got his nasty sweat on me! I tried so hard to wipe it all off, but I was seriously weirded out. However, about 16 miles later, when it happened again, I barely noticed. I only semi-wiped it off at all. I was simply too tired to care! This was the same thing that happened with the food they were handing out. At first I wasn’t so sure I wanted watermelon out of someone’s hand, gloved or not! But by around mile 16 I couldn’t wait for the next treat someone had kindly prepared for me! This was also the same with the Vaseline they were giving out. They had cardboard pieces smeared with Vaseline. At first that seemed so gross, but once the spot on my arm that was rubbing on my shirt got bad enough, nothing seemed gross anymore. (But don’t worry, I showered really well when I got home!)

*Ibuprofen. Works like a charm! We popped some right before and then again around mile 18 and 20 and we were off!

*The last 6 miles were so hard! I guess our training really worked becaused we trained through mile 20 and right about then, our bodies were done! We were on track to run it in just under 4:30 but those last 6 were really hard!

*People cheering us on from the crowd. I loved it when people would cheer for us specifically. Nathan’s name on his bib was "Lightning" and mine was "Dash"! A few times some volunteers on the sidelines would call out go Lightning! Or, "Dash? Is that your name or your race strategy?" There was also one time, around mile 23 that someone yelled out, “Hey, girl in the white top”. I looked up and he yelled “yea, you, YOU CAN FINISH THIS!!” That was awesome! Everyone needs a personal cheer after mile 16...everyone!


Overall we had a blast with this running experience! Will we run one again? Well, why don’t you ask us once we are walking normally!