My first road marathon. A good friend and running mentor Hideki Kinoshita aka Kino has finally convinced me to run a marathon. And this one is not just a regular marathon. The Yonkers Marathon is known to be a very uphill course and difficult. Also, it is one of the oldest marathons in the US. I'm not sure how prepared I was, but I was definitely nervous. My previous marathon (first marathon ever) was the Thanksgiving Marathon at the Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. This was a trail marathon and it was gruesome having finished in 5:30:00. The Yonkers Marathon has a cut-off time of 5 hours so I was hesitant on finishing. A fellow runner I met through Kino had told me he is running Yonkers also, but Benny was much faster than me and I knew he would disappear in a matter of minutes. The temperature was mild, in the low 50's I think.
The race is a double loop going from Hastings-on-the-Hudson, up Yonkers, around, and back down. I was told that the beginning was practically a 5 mile incline, and it was! Boy was it hard, I ran a couple ultra's and marathon's but this was tough on me. I had new shoes on as well (stupid me), Saucony Kinvara. If I can recall the course, I just remember hills after hills after hills. Around mile 6, I met up with another running friend Jeffery Lin, who I met at the Thanksgiving Marathon. He was fast. We reached a point where it was a steep downhill and he just plowed right through it. I was still going at a comfortable 9-9:30 pace. The course was okay. Not much views except the beginning. There were lots of traffic lights and police officers. After the turn around coming back down, it was mainly the town of Yonkers. People were wondering what was going on, and some were angry that they couldn't turn or get out of their driveways. It was kind of nice to see the town, but view wise, it's really nothing.
By the time I reached the halfway mark, the time was about 1:55:00. My girlfriend who accompanies me on most races (such a great supporter and looked nice in her spring dress) was surprised that I came back that early. Early, yes, it was too early, too fast. I was expecting to be at midway around 2:15:00. This is where things went the other way. I knew I was way ahead of cut off time, but I also knew that I was pushing too hard for my first road marathon, in new shoes. I slowed down my pace to about 10:00. Bad idea. Muscles starting cramping and I felt drained, especially with the up hill AGAIN. By mile 16, I started walking. Some of this had to do with the shoes also. I was definitely not used to these semi-minimals. The bottom of my feet were hurting and I knew I couldn't heel strike. Also, the uphill running works your muscles and it paid its toll. I walked for about a mile before I regained some strength to run again. By this time, I was getting nervous whether I could finish in time. Miles 17-23 was a complete mess with run/walk (more walking than running) most of the way. I concentrated on running to a certain mark (lamp posts, traffic lights, etc.) and kept going. It was painful, but I kept a straight face and moved along. I was about 3.5 miles away when I checked my watch to see that I had run close to 3:40:00, exactly 1 hour and 20 minutes until cut-off time. By this time, I was pretty much done. At a 20 minute pace, walking the rest of the way, I was cutting it real close. I got scared and started running. It hurt, but I had to run. Not knowing that I picked up my pace, I was inching closer to the finish line. The last 3 miles were a steeeep uphill, followed by a 2 mile downhill to the finish line. I picked up my legs as much as I can and trekked along. 1.5 miles, I look at the watch and was surprised that it was about 4:05:00. I had more than enough time to walk the rest of the way. Not only that, I was gonna finish. My plan was to walk the last mile or so and jog the rest, but there was this person behind me that was shuffling along. I could hear the foot steps coming closer and I looked back. A blue singlet read Whippets, and it was a girl. She looked agonizing but moved along. Something inside me said I don't want to lose at this point so I started moving as well. I didn't want to lose for some reason. In the end, I passed her and moved along finishing at 4:27:26. Not only did I make the cut-off time, but I managed to run under 4:30.
After the race there was some beer and food served but I decided to relax a bit with Leslie (girlfriend). It's one thing to be able to run a marathon, but its another to appreciate having a companion that is very supportive. The weather was beautiful and we were by the river so it was really relaxing.
One marathon down, many more to go!
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