There were about 1,500 runner came out to run the 3rd annual Snickers Albany Marathon. It was a beautiful day for a race. It was very foggy for the first half of the race which was very nice. Some parts of the fog were so thick you could see the water vapor in the air.
I got up about 5:00 AM and went to the Waffle House and ate my usually pre race breakfast. On the way I drank some Hornet Juice. I arrive to the start line about 40 minutes before the race started. I found some of my friends from Albany Run Walk and we talked about our plans for the race.
Here I am about mile four. You can see how thick the fog was.
Here I am with running with Josh (It was his first marathon)
I ran the first half of the race with Chuck, Josh, & Johnny. We did the Galloway Method which was Run for 3 minutes & walk for 1 minute. I felt great over the first 13.1 miles. My split was 2:09:23.
From this point on the race gets harder. Our group begins to separate. Johnny runs on ahead. Chuck stays with Josh to help him cross the finish line. And I soldier on by myself. The whole time I’m doing math in my head to see if I can get under the 4:30 mark and or get a PR. The sun came out and the fog lifted. Luckily there was a breeze to help keep things cool. I keep looking for this guy.
His name is Pacer Jim. He was the Pace Leader for the 4:30 group. He caught up with me about mile 24. I carried the sign till mile 25 when I had to drop back. My knee didn’t want to run anymore. I was doing my best to keep running for 3 minutes and walk 1 minute but I couldn’t do it. I was walking longer and running less. I wanted it to be over. I was glad for all the voluntees that were there to help cheer me on. It really helped.
I got up about 5:00 AM and went to the Waffle House and ate my usually pre race breakfast. On the way I drank some Hornet Juice. I arrive to the start line about 40 minutes before the race started. I found some of my friends from Albany Run Walk and we talked about our plans for the race.
Here I am with Chuck
Here I am about mile four. You can see how thick the fog was.
Here I am with running with Josh (It was his first marathon)
I ran the first half of the race with Chuck, Josh, & Johnny. We did the Galloway Method which was Run for 3 minutes & walk for 1 minute. I felt great over the first 13.1 miles. My split was 2:09:23.
Near the end of mile 14 I ran past my mom’s house where I had my cheering squad waiting on me. Sarah Jane had gotten out her sidewalk chalk and wrote love daddy out on the street. My mom and my grandmother were out by the road ringing cowbells. And my beautiful wife was there to capture the moment.
Here is Sarah Jane looking for me. I’d asked her to hand me some more Hornet Juice. Then she ran with me to the corner.
From this point on the race gets harder. Our group begins to separate. Johnny runs on ahead. Chuck stays with Josh to help him cross the finish line. And I soldier on by myself. The whole time I’m doing math in my head to see if I can get under the 4:30 mark and or get a PR. The sun came out and the fog lifted. Luckily there was a breeze to help keep things cool. I keep looking for this guy.
His name is Pacer Jim. He was the Pace Leader for the 4:30 group. He caught up with me about mile 24. I carried the sign till mile 25 when I had to drop back. My knee didn’t want to run anymore. I was doing my best to keep running for 3 minutes and walk 1 minute but I couldn’t do it. I was walking longer and running less. I wanted it to be over. I was glad for all the voluntees that were there to help cheer me on. It really helped.
When I got to the finish line Sarah Jane was right there waiting on me. I grabbed her hand and we ran it in together. I finished the race in 4:34:06. I told a lot people that I thought I got a PR. Turns out I missed it by 9 seconds. I was so close but finishing a marathon with my daughter was much better than any PR.
Here are some post race pics.
Life Is Good!
10 comments:
Awesome pics and great job! I love that you finished the marathon with your daughter. So sweet :)
SUPER RACE REPORT!!!!
I was wearing a yellow tank, a white visor and sunglasses. Sound familiar. Your daughter tried to bring me your bottle of blue sports drink when I ran by your house!!!!!!! That's going my race report! We were probably no more than 5 minutes apart. I started with the 4:30 pace group and got ahead of them (on purpose) before we got off of ASU campus. My half split was 2:11ish. My finish was 2:26:22. I was doing 2:30/1 intervals.
Great race report and pictures! That is awesome about your daughter. She looks so excited in the pictures!
I FINALLY got some horney juice last week :) Pretty pumped about trying it out!
these are aaaawesome race pics!! at first it looks like it's raining at the Starting line and I was like ahh! not good! But, definitely a perfect race day. congrats!!
good for you! Congrats! I am still working on running for a couple of miles then I'll work my way up to marathon. You have all my respect because I know running isn't easy.
Good job! Since reading your blog I've been heading to the gym a lot more, still a long way of a marathon but a May 10k is looking good. Its great that you got to run passed your Mom's house for extra support!
Awesome job! Looks like a fun race and a great homecoming!
LOVE how excited your daughter got about it. I see a marathoner in the making. :)
Congrats on a great marathon!! You are so lucky to have such a wonderful supporting family!
Great pics, George. I especially like the ones with your precious little daughter. It's nice to have a great photographer in the fam, eh!?
Catching up on blog posts and LOVED this one! You did an amazing marathon time and the pics of Sarah Jane running at mile 14 and into the finish are priceless. Boy was that fog thick at the start of the race! Congrats again on a fantastic finish. Your wife is a wonderful photographer. She really captured the moments on film wonderful!
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