My first marathon - Marshall University

Sunday November 5th, 2006, Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia. The day I had been wating for oh say 5 months. The girls and I drove up the day before, picked up my race bib and ate spaghetti, went swimming at our Super 8 and went to bed. I was in bed by 10 and back up about 3am. Couldn't sleep. I felt like I had enough sleep but just couldn't sleep anymore. I checked email, and surfed up running and hunting stuff on the internet. I tried to rest but I couldn't get to sleep. It was a long night.


At 6am I was down in the lobby eating a bagel, banana, and cereal. About 7:10 we were on our way to the race start. I picked up my electronic timing chip and strapped it to my ankle. Soon it was time to grab the ipod and sync up my Garmin GPS with the satellites. At 8am they started the wheelchair racer on the marathon. There was only one, a lady. There were folks running a half marathon, full marathon, and some walking 5 miles. I think all together there were maybe 600 or so contestants for all the events. I'll know more after the results are posted.

Soon we were off. The temperature was in the mid 30's and it was cloudy. It was perfect. I started out at a 8:52 pace and the running was very easy. The next 11 miles or so were very easy I ate one power bar gel pack about mile 7. I was stopping at almost every aid station and getting drinks. Audrey and the girls cheered me on at the start and then again when we came back at mile 4. I said to her "have we started yet?" Life was good. Then about mile 9 Audrey was there at Ritter Park to cheer me on. I thnk I said something to her like "doing good" or something like that. Her cheering me on really helped.

Unfortunately about mile 10 my worst enemy showed up. The sun. I don't do well when it gets hot and yes it was still only about 40 something but the rule of thumb is that when you are running you need to add about 20 degrees so we were at the top of my comfort zone for fast running. Sorry I'm complaining, it could have been pouring the rain. It's just that when I get hot I immediately slow down and start sweating. So until about mile 11 or 12, I was in the zone and really cooking along. There were several runners around me most of the time at this point.

Wheelchair racer

At the halfway point (mile 13) I had this feeling that it was really going to be difficult for me to finish feeling good. I was right on the pace I wanted to be. At mile 15 I had been going for 2 hours and 15 minutes. I was starting to struggle and it was getting hard to maintain pace (and it really shouldn't have been) I knew I needed to make it to mile 20 by 3 hours and that's what I did.

What helped me get there was between 15 and 20 there was a lady named Dawn that kept running past me, then she would walk. When she walked, I would pass her. This must have happened 5 times, finally I said "You are just not going to let me stay in front of you are you?" She said "you are my rabbit" and I laughed. The next time she passed me she said "tag you're it". Well of course I took this as a challenge and kept leap frogging some more. At mile 18 we both stopped for water and I said "tag you're it" and I took off on a fast sprint for about 100 yards (which probably I shouldn't have done in hindsight). Anyway this left her in the dust for a long time. Basically till about mile 23 or so. I stopped to get a drink and she was right behind me. She passed me there and that was it she was gone. At this point the runners were really spread out. A few times I couldn't see anyone in front of me. I felt like I was last in the race.
The reason for this was that my legs were really starting to hurt badly. I could feel cramps starting up all over my legs. They wouldn't move. Your brain just goes into this state of fog. If I were going to make it to 26.2 before 4 hours, and I was at 20 miles at 3 hours, that meant I had a whole hour to run 6.2 miles. "I can do that I thought". That's only about a 9:50 pace to the end which I should be able to do. At mile 21 Audrey and the girls once again cheered for me in Ritter Park. That really helped. It was getting so tough. All I could do was let out a big whooo hooo back at them. It was so loud I was kinda embarrased I had done it. Ritter Park is a beautiful spot in the city. The girls then jumped in the car and cheered me along as they drove along the route. I had to go up a hill right here and that really took the juice out of me.

At mile 21 is also when I started to really tune out. It was getting hard to run, it was getting hard to think. I tried to listen to my music and use it to boost me. It really wasn't helping much. A song would come on that I liked and I would take off on a burst and then slow back down into my normal 9+ min/mile pace. I was sort of ambling along kind of listing like a ship on it's side. I just didn't see how I was going to make the last 5,4,3... miles. It seemed like it took forever to get to mile 24.

Mile 24 was in interesting situation. I looked at my watch. I had 18 minutes to make it 2.2 miles. Under normal running conditions a feat I should be able to do. At this point, I didn't know. I made a resolve to pick up the pace. Then I remembered "hey the last few miles are slightly uphill" which wasn't helping. I had tried to eat some pretzels about mile 24 but I couldn't swallow them so I had to spit them out. I don't think I had enough saliva in my mouth. Mile 24 was where I fully realized that my dream of a sub 4 hour marathon was not going to happen.

I tried to run hard using everything I got. I did pretty good till mile 25. I had walked a little bit off an on for a few seconds. I had made 3 bathroom stops and ate three gel packs. The cramps became too much. I had to walk, if you want to call it that. More of a bowlegged hobble. I would walk for a little then run and hobble a little. Mile 25 took absolutely so long it seemed like the proverbial "eternity". Like I was in a long tunnel and the light at the end was not getting any bigger. I can't really describe my thoughts and feelings other than I was exhausted and in pain from the waist down. I could barely keep running. I was thinking right, left, right, left. I was walking along and a much older gentlemen passed me. I said to some of the girls handing out water. "Look at that you get to the end and you let an old guy pass ya". I felt bad and I'm sure I looked it.
After walking a good bit of mile 25. I could see the stadium it was getting closer. As I went into the stadium you have to go down a steep ramp. I had to take it easy. I hit the artificial field and there were lots of people standing around. They directed me down the sideline. Audrey and the girls were right there cheering me on. I went down the sideline of the field, hooked left around the goalpost where I took a football. They had the center of the field roped off for us to run down. I grabbed the football. I had been hoping to do a sprint down the football field with the ball. I did the best I could which was just a casual jog down the field. The announcer said "number 110, Mark Persinger" as I crossed the finish line. I noticed the time said 4 hour 7 minutes and something. (I think). I'll know more after they post the results.

I then stopped and oh the pain! My legs were cramping horribly. The lactic acid had built up. The girls ran to me and yelled "Daddy!". I had to tell them to back off because I couldn't stand to be jostled. My calves were screaming. No position was comfortable. I was just so miserable. I hobbled around. The girls got me a banana and some water and I chugged them down. I chugged two water bottles and a gatorade in the next few minutes. I laid under a table in the shade and ate some pizza. Audrey said just a few minutes before I finished they had to take someone away in the ambulance because they crossed the line and had seizures. Dawn had crossed the line about 4 hours and 4 minutes. I would speculate that had I stayed with her I still would not have made 4 hours. Finally after about 30 minutes I was ready to walk to the car. People were still finishing the marathon as we walked out. On the way home I recovered well and I sit here tonite with some tired legs but the only pain is a slight ache in the calves.

I paid about $44 to be in the race. I received a nice fleece pullover, the whole family got a free spaghetti dinner, refreshments along the race and pizza, fruit, cookies galore at the finish. Oh and I received a finishers medal of course. There was the cost of the motel (about $80). All in all a pretty cheap weekend for the event. Much cheaper than going to NY or DC for a marathon.
It was a wonderful experience. After about mile 18 I joked with policemen and aid station workers saying "don't ever do this". There were a tremendous amount of volunteers involved in this race. Policemen were everwhere, aid stations every mile or two would have 5-10 people at each one, and in the stadium there were tens of volunteers. The cons of the race were that the course is not that scenic, there's not much crowd support and it gets lonely out there. The pros are that it was fairly cheap and it was extremely easy to pickup my packet, eat, and get to the race. This is definitly a good course to set a personal record on.

I think there are two things that I will do differently "next time". Can't believe I said "next time". The first is when training I need to get to about the 23 mile distance once or twice to prepare me better. The second and most important thing though is to be aware of how much I'm drinking during the race. Early on in the race I was stopping at every aid station but only getting one cup of water or gatorade. Sometimes I didn't drink it all or the cup was very small. Next time, I will ask for two or maybe even 4 cups. I will concentrate on drinking more. I believe I was dehydrated somewhat when I crossed the line and that is what lead to the cramping.

Even though I didn't meet my 4 hour goal, I am still very pleased with my finish time. Trust me, when you're at mile 25 you are just happy to see the finish. Next year.... sub 4 hours!


My mile times were as follows.

1 8:52
2 8:52
3 8:51
4 8:47
5 8:39
6 8:31
7 9:05
8 8:44
9 8:40
10 8:42
11 9:00
12 9:07
13 9:16
14 9:46
15 8:47
16 9:00
17 8:56
18 9:16
19 9:10
20 9:32
21 9:19
22 10:05
23 10:11
24 11:12
25 10:34
26 12:19
26.2 5:01

Total 4 hours and 7 minutes and 22 seconds