Happy it's Over

While I thought I would be a marathoner by the end of the day Saturday, I became an ultra-marathoner. An ultra-marathoner is anyone who runs over 26.2 miles.

Before I get to that story, let's start at the beginning.

I signed up for a trail marathon. Meaning 26.2 miles all on trails, a.k.a. dirt.

It rained 3 days straight before the marathon, so my dirt trail turned to a mud trail. Did I mention there was red clay all over the trail as well?

When you run a trail marathon, you are at the mercy of the directions. Usual given by volunteers at tricky turn and orange tape throughout the course. Well, let's just say there were not enough volunteers.

Myself and a group of runners missed a turn and did about 2 extra miles. To add insult to injury were the conditions.

The mud and past your ankle puddles were tough, they even forced one to walk when you didn't want to. The true challenge was the red clay, and there was a lot of it. When you hit a batch of red clay, your only choice was to walk. When you got out of the slop, your shoes were coated and weighed about 10 lbs each. As well, they had a glossy coating on the bottom that made you feel like you were walking on fresh ice in snow boots.

Not the easiest way to run.

So once you made it through a rough patch, you couldn't just start running, you had to try and stomp your shoes clean, run for a short stretch and come up to another mud patch.

Many people fell including myself. One man even separated his shoulder. Many quite. I didn't.

By the end my legs were tired and cramping to the point they would not bend. My heart and mind were still strong and I excited about a strong finish up until my last step.

My parents came in with my grandmother from Michigan to support me and Laura was with my in spirit every step of the way and my biggest support at every water stop and at the finish.

I did the marathon for a challenge. It was a challenge. I knew my greatest assest is that I was strong mentally going into it. That allowed me to finish the marathon.

While it was nothing like I expected, it was absolutely perfect.

I got my challenge and I succeeded. I finished the ASC Trail Marathon and anticipate more to come.