The 2012 Richmond Marathon was supposed to be my goal race. There
were just too many things converging making this race my goal race. It was my 5th and last marathon of
2012. It was supposed to be the one I would break 5 hours. Not that breaking 5
hours is that important to me. I could have easily done this at Shamrock, but I
chose to stop for a couple of beers on mile 25 and ended up 30 seconds over 5
hours, despite my mad sprint to the finish line in a 5:56 pace for the last
quarter mile.
A big reason Richmond became my goal race was the following: I developed
Plantar Fasciitis and when I went to a podiatrist at the beginning of October he
said that he could help me without having to stop my running streak. After I told
him about my race schedule for the coming 6 weeks (one half and 3 full
marathons) he said that we should make the last one the goal race. Isn’t it
nice when the doctor is a runner and understands our crazy goals?
So after uneventful 3 races with an easy PR in the rain at the
Crawling Crab Half (2:13:33), a very enjoyable Medoc Mountain Trail Marathon with
a 16 minute course PR (5:36:40) and a nice effort at the MCM where I stared
with my friend Marie in the 5:30 pace group and gradually gained ground to
finish at 5:13:14 I was ready for a good result in Richmond.
I was also excited for Richmond because my friend Marie Bartoletti was pacing the 4:45 group. Did I tell
you that Richmond was her 241st marathon? In addition, this full time elementary
teacher ran a lot of ultras including Badwater and Western States, Triathlons including
Kona Ironman and done a few other crazy stuff like a double at Boston which is
starting at the finish line running to the start line and then running the
regular race back to the finish line. So everything was lined up for a good race.
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| with Chris in front of the Capital in the morning |
Friday was busy day at work and I did not get off at midday as I had
hoped, so I did not get to Richmond until 9:30PM. Thankfully Chris had picked up my packet. In the morning
we drove downtown and after a few circles, we finally found a place to park. We
barely had time to get to the Marriott where I was supposed to meet Raphael. Chris and I ran into Ray briefly and then they disappeared while
I met up with Raphael, Carla and their daughters. We
took a couple of pictures outside and headed up to the starting corals where we
saw Ally and Michael K. We got to the 4:45 pace group and said
hello to Marie and met a few of the other runners. Marie remembered Raphael
from Shamrock.
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| w Raphael pre race |
The gun went and off we went. The start was really crowded and it was
particularly evident that there were a lot of New York runners that came to Richmond
after the cancellation. Several were actually wearing the NY marathon race
number on their back and the Richmond number on the front. We ran into Karen on mile 1. I was glad
to see her as we never managed a meet-up the day before. Soon after, people
were calling me Chris. I had to explain to Raphael that many of the MTT runners
think that I am Chris as we do look alike. A few of the ones that I‘ve me over
the years actually know me and they just call me ‘Chris’s brother’. The first
four miles were uneventful when I realized that we were going too fast (10:46,
10:30, 10:41, 10:37) we had actually ran ahead of the 4:45 pace group so we
slowed down and let the group catch up with us. The next two miles (11:03,
10:56) were with the group were Marie was telling stories as always. There is
never a quiet moment in her groups. She usually talks the entire 26.2, except
when others take turns to tell stories or dedicate miles.
Now, I am running very comfortably with the group, but I felt that
I needed a p break. The porta-johns had lines and I did not want I waste any
time. I spotted a tree on the side on mile 7 and I ran ahead and ducked under
it to do my business. As I came out the other side and was getting ready to
speed up to catch up with my group, my right foot got caught on a tree root
which I did not see because the ground was covered with leaves. I ended up on
my butt. I got up and realized that I could not walk. It was hard to walk on my
right leg. This was at the top of a hill with a huge downhill right ahead. I was
still thinking that I could just use gravity to speed up and catch up with my
group. I just needed to sort out this cramp (I thought it was a cramp). So I tried
to run but went less than a few hundred feet when I almost felt down again and
leaned on a mailbox. I realized at that moment that my goal race went out the
window. It was only mile 7. So I slowed down and let my body dictate the pace. Mile
7 was a slow 12:34.
I eventually found a rhythm and gained some speed in the next 3
miles. I was able to run through the Huguenot bridge and Riverside drive at
11:03. 11:28, 10:35. But the pain in my knee returned stronger. When I saw a
couple of medics on bicycles going towards Forrest Hill Avenue I stopped and
told them about it. They said they had tape, so they taped my knee. That helped
for the next few miles and I was run-walking. Miles 11-15 were at 11:59, 12:06,
11:43, 12:05, 13:13. Despite my issues I crossed the half marathon mark in
2:28. But by mile 16, the tape came off and I was in pain. I saw another set of
medics and I stopped. They taped Ice packs on my knee and told me that my race
was over. I said that it wasn’t. We got in a bit of a discussion and I said
that I would try to walk it. They said Ok. Mile 16 was at 17:39
After that, running was out of the question. I just could not run.
It was just frustrating to see those nice stretches of road ahead of me but I could
not run. All I could do was power walk. So I pressed on. Miles 17-21 were at
14:23, 14:56, 14:44, 14:22 and 14:50. By this time, I was actually passing
runners who had hit the infamous marathon wall. Pain was everywhere. I also saw
a couple of runners on the ground on the side with their races obviously over. At
mile 20 or 21 I came up to Raphael and he was struggling. I tried to encourage him,
but he was hurting. We came up to the beer stops on mile 22 and I tried to get
him to drink some, but he said that he couldn’t. I stopped at a party at
someone’s driveway and they were having Heinekens. So I took a full bottle and
had some of their party snacks. They were so much fun. I wanted to carry on but
I didn’t think the police would let me on the course with a glass bottle of
beer. Thankfully someone had plastic solo cups and I poured the rest of my beer
in one and headed back on the course. The next stop was at the Richmond Hash
House Harriers tent where I took 3 shots of Jimmy. It really helped eased the
knee pain. Then I got to another beer table where I refilled my empty solo cup.
It took 5 or 6 beer shot cups to get me full 12 oz. This was Coors Light… oh
well…
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| keep it up! |
I finally saw another medical tent and I stopped again. The ice
packs on my knee had melted and were not helping. The medics let me lay on a
bed and re-taped new ice packs on my knee. This time they put the ice straight
on the skin instead of using a cloth between the pack and the skin and I got
back into the race. Miles 22 and 23 took
18:33 and 20:51 – Raphael kept going through out all my stops and I kept leapfrogging
him. It was obvious that he was hurting but was not going to quit. When I realized
that he was going to make it, I marched ahead. The MTT coaches were encouraging me
now. One of them, who saw me at couple of medical stops said that mine was the inspirational
performance of the day. That was the nicest thing I heard all day! I was
finding new energy; so I decided that I needed to press on so that I would not end
up with a new marathon worst. Miles 24-26 got progressively better at 15:24,
14:15 and 12:57. I saw Carla and the girls at the top of the hill before the finish
and told them that Raphael was coming behind me. I ‘ran’ down the hill to the
finish line at a 10:41 pace and crossed the line at 5:49:04.
I waited there for about 15 minutes for Raphael, but then headed to
the finishers area knowing that the others would be looking for me. Sure
enough, as soon as I got there I saw Kate and Danny who said they were looking for me and had
been worried. Chris had gone to the drop bags to get his phone to call me. I
eventually found him and we had a couple of beers, courtesy of Kate who gave me
her beer tickets.
If this was a half marathon, I would still finish in a decent time,
even with a fall and injury at mile 7. However, a full marathon is a hard and
long race... Just to put things in perspective I ran the first half in 2:28 and
the second half in 3:21, that was 1 hour slower…
The bottom line I that I did not quit and put another Marathon in
the books. My 9th 26.2 was eventful. It was not my slowest, not the hardest.
Both of these distinctions go to the 2011 Medoc Mountain trail marathon. This
was my 3rd slowest marathon, as the 2011 Shamrock which I ran with a broken toe
was slower by 1 minute. It is funny that my most difficult finishes are the slowest
ones.
http://www.dailymile.com/people/Nicolaides/entries/19230346
(1) Early miles w Raphael (2) running strong (3) pain
(4) mile 25 (5) to the finish line (6) done
