Kevin and I got to Ameristar Hotel in St. Charles around 2:30 Saturday and quickly headed to the expo. We shopped a bit, he caught a heck of a deal on a good pair of running shoes, and I went a little cheaper and got out of there for $6. The shirts were again great this year, and I planned on bringing it Sunday to put on at the finish line. We walked around the casino, the really cool fountain, and checked out a cool sportsbar..
We heard that th
e Katy Trail went right under part of the Ameristar so we went out to find it... it was right around 13.5 miles, and Kevin said he'd be at the bridge around 9:00 so he could cheer me on at the 1/2 way point.. took some pictures of the trail, then back inside the hotel and got checked in.. Went up to the 15th floor and checked out our room.. Really really nice hotel room complete with a huge huge bathroom, TV to watch from the tub, king size bed and a sunken lounge area with chairs and a couch. Our room looked out over the river, Kathy H said their room looked over the other side which was pool side so we went to check that out too.. It was around 4:15 and we had 45 minutes to kill before meeting everyone in the lobby to head to dinner. Kevin said I needed something to drink.. I guess that meant I was pretty keyed up about the whole marathon thing and was in need of settling dow
n. The drink worked.. Went down to the lobby at 5:00 to meet everyone and head to dinner .. we were able to squeeze into Jill's car since Kathy F and Rich were meeting us at the restaurant and since Kathy H and Don brought Haley, they didn't feel they should intrude on adult conversation. .. silly girl!!!! We missed you Kathy! So we ate at Favazza's Italian restaurant on the hill and it was excellent! Huge portions, very authentic Italian food and great atmosphere.. Had a nice enjoyable dinner and headed back to the hotel. It was 9:00 and the guys all hit the Casino, but the girls headed up to their rooms to get to bed.. I figured I'd be too keyed up to sleep, but I slept like a log.. That was the end of the 'fun, enjoyable weekend' I mentioned earlier!!Woke up at 4:45 Sunday and headed straight for the window.. It had already started raining and the wind was blowing. Well, it doesn't look too bad I thought, and started getting dressed.. looked out again and decided I couldn't really tell what it was doing outside from that high up and on the dark river side, so I went out into the hall, down to the elevator area and looked out the other side of the hotel. where it was light up from street lights... Ike had arrived. It was pouring and blowing like nothing I had ever seen before! The nerves hit again and I wondered how I was going to get through 26.2 miles of that?? I decided this still wasn't close enough to the action so I went downstairs, and outside to get a bird's eye view. That just depressed me and I didn't want to see anymore so I went upstairs to finish getting ready.. ate my oatmeal and raisins, drank some water, got my fuel belt on, Ipod and Garmin and away I went.. Kevin was up by that time; he wished me luck and said he felt really bad for us having to run in that mess outside! Gave me the 'ol 'You didn't train the last 5 months for nothing' pep talk, and away I went out the door. 5 garbage bags in hand..
The girls were downstairs already sporting their lovely black plastic attire.. I put mine on, left the others on a table for whoever needed them, and we climbed onto the bus.. the bus had pulled right up under the big awning so we were still dry at this point. On the way over to the start, we looked out the windows and seriously wondered if they'd call the races off..but there wasn't any lightening so probably not.. Ok, so no lightening... Tornado?? Yea, a tornado would surely call off the race! Dang, no tornado either... The line into the Riverport parking lot was really backed up so it was quite a long wait to get off the bus.. The race was supposed to start at 6:45 but it was already 6:30 and still a line of cars were coming in so we figured they'd postpone it a little like they did last year.. Eventually the bus pulled up and let everyone off.. After getting over the shock of the cold rain and wind we went over to the bag drop, dropped off our bags and headed to the port a potties.. I took off the garbage bag and put on my rain jacket I brought.. zipped up, put the hood up but was still getting drenched.. We huddled together in the start area and decided that we were all getting a free derm abrasion treatment from the driving rain hitting our faces.. We would just look at each other and laugh because we were all thinking, what the hell are we doing??!!! We had to stand around about 10 minutes which normally would be nothing, but we were just wanting to GO.. get it done! We started, and thanks to the guy on the mike who from his car was cheering us on.. lots of whoo hoo's and 'hell yea's' were heard and I was amazed at everyone's enthusiasm in running the race despite the weather! kathy's boss told her to 'run fast and dodge the puddles'.. funny guy! Our shoes were squishing before we even started running so the puddles weren't going to make a difference at that point.. we were fighting the wind most of the way and sometimes you couldn't go forward because it held you back! At one point tho the wind was at our backs and that was great! It only lasted 2 miles tho and we turned back around and headed straight back into the wind.. so much for the break.. At the water stations you'd throw your cup down and the wind would throw it back at you, or they'd be flying around from being blown back up off the street.. the rain felt like ice pellets on your face and my neck hurt from keeping my head down so much.. the volunteers had these 'oh I feel for you' look on their faces..Lots and lots of encouragement from them along the way.. We kept on going and eventually you got a little used to the wind and rain...
At mile 9 I heard somebody say 'only a mile left' and I thought, Oh, that's just not funny!! But a little bit down the road I heard '.8 left '.. What??? Looking up, I realized where we were at.. we were headed down the hill that at the bottom turned to the right and took you to the 1/2 finish line.. but as we turned the corner the road was blocked with tape and they were yelling out 'everybody finishes just up ahead, it's been cut short at 10 miles'... WHAT??!! NO Freaking way!! I thought the weather was actually getting a little better! Why quit now?? Then I heard: 'Marathoners - the katy trail is under water'.. OH Great!
I saw a few people ducking under the tape before their chip crossed over the finish line. Apparantly they were marathoners not quite ready to throw in the towel yet.. I too stepped out at the last second and started running back the way I came.... I wasn't ready to quit yet either.. where would I run tho?? Follow the course?? What if I get back a few miles and they are shutting down the course?? I don't know St. Charles at all!! My heart said keeping going, but my head won and told me I better stop.. I had rememered that Quad Cities was in two weeks (at least I was about 90% sure) so I decided to register for Quad Cities!
Patti and Kathy came in soon after me and she spotted Don so Patti and I went to pick up our bags.. the park was pretty much under water and a muddy mess!! So we sloshed our way to the tent to get our bags, sloshed our way out of the park to dry (sort of) land and headed to the hotel.. Kathy was already there and she and the guys were waiting for us under the awning.. we then headed up to the room to get a shower.. my Mom, sister and Kaiden were on their way and would be getting to the hotel soon.. I felt really bad that they got up so early to drive down and watch the finish.!
So my first try at a marathon wasn't to be, but I gave it my best shot, everybody gave it their best shot! Like I said, we didn't feel defeated at all.. in fact, I think we're all feeling pretty good right now that we even had the guts to get out their and run at all!
3 comments:
Wow,
All I can is KUDOS to you all for having great spirits running in those conditions. Now you can actually say you have run in all the adverse conditions that the midwest has thrown at you. Rain, Snow, Heat and Hurricane, it doesnt slow you down. You chug on and do what you have to do.
It sucks that they have to cut the race short, especially you Kari. But in the end, it was the bonding moment that you all will always will cherish.
Nice to hear about your positive attitude. Just a momentary setback and you will do just fine in two weeks. Go Quad Cities Go!
Kari, you made me laugh when you said "I wanted to keep on going but where would I go?" You were mentally strong and didn't want to stop so you will be strong for Quad Cities. When I ran Chicago last year in the record heat, they were yelling "the race has been canceled" and I said "Heck no" and kept on running. I only had 3 miles to go but in your case, you didn't have an option. I understand why they canceled Chicago and I understand why they canceled St. Charles. Sometimes the heart and head don't agree on stopping because they have been conditioned to stay strong and never give up.
Good luck in the Quad Cities and tell us how it goes!!!!!
Thanks you two!! It definitely was something I'll never forget!!
Yep, my head and heart certainly didn't agree at the time, but I am looking forward to QC and the nice route.. it will certainly beat 13 miles on a trail....:-)
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