Maybe I'll blame it on the fact that I saw the finish/start line 4 times before finishing the race. Now that is KILLER! Let me explain. In most marathons, we see this "line" twice, once at the begining and then again when we finish. But, that just won't do in West Palm Beach. Nope, in West Palm Beach you see this line at the start, then again at the half, and if that's not enough, again at mile 21, then finally...at the end. You might remember me making note of the effects passing a finish line to continue a race has on the runner's pschy when I wrote about that 20 mile no name race. Well, passing the finish line two times and one of those times is at mile 21 is simply heart wrenching.
There I am at mile 21, after having passed the finish line at 13.1 miles and then heading North through town for a complete butt whipping, looking at that bloody finish line once again. Just think about this for a moment. This time in a race is normally known as the "Wall", the place where all of your glycogen stores are empty and now you're burning fat inefficiently for energy. Your ability to solve simple math problems is seriously compromised, like 22+17=31. The size of the fight in you has been diminished to that of a peanut. If you usually have OCD, you now couldn't care less about stepping on that crack in the sidewalk. And forget smiling for photos. You are just seeking the finish. Then you look up, there it is (surprisingly soon), the finish line. The loud speaker has that ubiquitious voice of the guy calling out the names of the finishers. "Richard Fowler all the way in from Alabama, looking good Richard, gives us a smile as he finishes." The big band playing some cool music, "Celebrate good times, com on". Cow bells ringing relentlessly throughout the corridor and clapping, yelling and cheering. What a great time to be finishing - "I did it, I'm done!" Then, in a rare moment of lucidity, "Wait just a minute, this isn't the finish?" Everyone - and I mean everyone has their back turned to me. "I've been ostracized", I lament. "They're cheering for someone else. Dagnabit, I still have 5.2 miles to go!!" Now THAT will blow your mind.
After my woeful reality at mile 21, I continued on up Flaggler and made my way to the final few miles. Knowing that I would finish soon, I guess there's something redeemable about going by the finish line at 21 miles. This is me trying to stay positive - are you convinced?
When I finally finished I sat just near the bag pick-up right at the end of the finishers' chute. This extremely nice, little lady volunteer helped me so much. She accosted her husband and sent him off to retreive two cans of Coca-Cola, then just minutes later she trotted off to the Ruth's Chris tent and fixed me a little plate of lean steak and salty, shredded potatoes. Ahh, that was great. I got all my protein, carbs and electolytes replaced before I had to go any farther.
There were tents and celebrations happening all around me at the finish. I think the planners did an excellent job with the exhibitors. Even though I was just too pooped to consider visiting any of these vendors, I still much apreciated they're presence. The overall atmosphere was very festive. Florida is just too hard to beat when it comes to partying so, they have a headstart on other marathon locales.
That's just about it. I've covered the most important elements of my experience at West Palm Beach. I do have a few additional comments I can sum up here that may help you choose a marathon for next fall.
The Marthon of the Beaches is the very definition of a flat marathon. I do not remember even the slightest of inclines. I think this would be a fast one if you can get over passing the finish so many times and if you are blessed with cooler temperatures. I understand, however, that you should never expect cool temps in this part of Florida.
Flying into Palm Beach was simply a breeze. It's a fairly small airport and not very busy this time of year. I was a little surprized even when I was leaving because the small number of people does not reflect the reputation Palm Beach has as a resort location. You will have no trouble getting in and out.
No need to rent a car if you choose the right hotel. I stayed at the Hilton Garden Hotel on Worthington Road. This hotel is about a half mile from the Airport and less than a mile from the start line. They even offered a Free shuttle to and from the start. The shuttle bused you to the heart of Palm Beach on the hour or you could call the hotel and have the shuttle pick you up sooner. I guess the only thing I would have liked was to spend some time on the actual beach.The beach was about a mile past the downtown area, but I was simply too lazy to find my way to the coast. That leads me to one final, albeit small criticism of this "Marathon of the Beaches", we never really ran along the beach since the race is completely on the intracoastal. I hoped we would spend a little time on Ocean Drive right along the beach, but really I knew better. I bet that could have saved us from passing the start/finish line so many times. But I'm certain the trade off would have included some unwanted hills, inclines or bridges, so I'm keeping my mouth shut on this.
Because I did not rent a car and I didn't want to be out too late the night before, I enjoyed a pasta dinner right in the hotel. Not too bad, although I don't think they could accomodate a large contigent of hungry, short tempered marathoners getting their last meal before execution. So if you plan on going with a group of runners, try a resturant in town for that customary pasta dinner.
Well, I've done it. I've journaled my experience at my 9th marathon on pursuit to 50. This event really tested my resolve. I can't recount how many times I wanted to quit. It even jeopordized my interest in going for a Boston qualify or completing 50 marathons.
I know so many folks who ran "that marathon", the one where they decided not to run another one. I understand these people now. Some of them never completed a single marathon due to an injury they suffered during their first one. Some finished that final marathon and their bodies have not been the same since. And some have walked off the course, completely dejected, exhausted, never having finished and not able to see themselves returning to the fray.
Good gracious! Any one of those could have and should have been me. 2006 Marine Corps Marathon, 2006 Tucson Marathon, 2007 Denver Marathon, 2007 Marathon of the Palm Beaches. These were all miserable experiences where my performance hardly qualifies me as a runner at all. They certainly are not indicative of a future Boston marathoner.
In spite of this, how is it that I enter January with a renewed, invigorated spirit to train hard, run fast and set a PR goal for the fall? I don't know - this running thing just still excites me so much. I guess it's OK that I cannot put my finger on it. I'm just delighted to be so blessed with this ability. The simple notion of locomotion - most of us do it, but not all of us can. I reckon that's something to hold on to. Many of my running buddies run faster than I - those I admire or maybe envy. Some of my running buddies run slower than I - those I appreciate and I know they're getting faster. But we're all runners.
There it is, 9 States down and 41 to go. For the next couple years I will focus solely on qualifying though - so only one marathon a year until I reach Boston. Never, never stop running.
