Detroit Marathon
Sunday, October 23, 2005

Joanne and kids, post-marathon

Race report from Joanne...
Date: Mon Oct 24, 2005
Subject: [tprc] My First Marathon Report - Detroit
 

I did it!  I successfully finished the Detroit Free Press Marathon yesterday.  For those of you who want the hard, cold facts, here are the preliminary results: AGE GROUP RESULTS DETROIT FREE PRESS/FLAGSTAR BANK MARATHON Sunday, October 23, 2005 FEMALE AGE GROUP: 40 - 44 156 3466 Joanne Holmes (Boustead) Toronto ON 40 13:14 2:52:49 5:58:10 5:46:29 13:13 At 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, myself, my husband and our children piled into our van, and drove off to Detroit.  The trip there was uneventful. We arrived at the expo around 2 p.m. and I picked up everything for the race. The Pace Bunny organizer asked me if I had a time goal, so I told him 5:30 or longer. He suggested I start with the 5 hour pace bunny, but I declined, as I was concerned about starting out too fast.  We walked quickly through the expo as the kids were tired from the car ride. We then drove to our hotel but hit a detour on the way and eventually found the hotel. We checked in the Holiday Inn at Dearborn and were happy with the room. We went next door to the restaurant at the Best Western for dinner. After dinner, we headed to the pool and splashed around for an hour. I asked my husband to watch the kids for a few minutes and had a soak in the hot tub. It was wonderful. We relaxed in our room after the swim. I wasn't sure what I should wear as it was calling for rain the next day, so I took out every piece of running clothes that I brought and laid them out carefully on a chair. I got my fuel belt ready and then we all went to bed. It took me a while to fall asleep but I slept really well. Exhaustion will do that for you! I woke up at 4:45 and hopped into the shower. I made some oatmeal and had some fruit salad and a coffee. I woke up my husband and we each carried a child to the van. We headed towards downtown but got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. We finally arrived downtown at 7:20 a.m. and the race started at 7:35. I could see runners walking by, so I told my husband to stop the van and let me out. I followed people to the start area and went to the back of the line. I really had to go to the bathroom but there was no time before the race started. It took 12 minutes for me to cross the starting line and then I stopped at the first portapotty. I just had to go and didn't think I could make it to the next portapotty. It took almost 10 minutes before it was my turn. As I waiting, I realized that the 2 hour cutoff to the tunnel would not make allowance for the 12 minutes it had taken me to reach the start line or my potty break! Yikes! I had planned to reach the tunnel at 1:40 with the delays at the beginning, I was going to be 2 minutes late to enter the tunnel. Panic set in and was compounded by the sight of the sweep vehicles IN FRONT OF ME by the time I exited the portapotty. Now I had to make up time, just to make the cutoff. I abandoned my orginal 10/1 strategy and sprinted for the sweep vehicles (no way was I going to run behind them - and I didn't have the time anyway). I slowed down once I got in front of the sweep vehicles and tried to figure out just how fast I did have to run to make the tunnel. I decided I could probably make it if I ran about a minute faster than my planned pace, so off I went! I had to weave through miles of walkers and that took a lot of energy. I was running hard and worried about bonking after my disastrous start. Even though I couldn't use my original strategy, I did walk through every single water station during the race (all 26 of them). All the walkers were staring at me, wondering where this deranged runner had come from! When I got to the base of the Ambassador Bridge, I took a deep breath and charged up the bridge. I made it over the bridge into Windsor and ran along the river. With every mile my anxiety grew, as I could see from my time that it was going to be a close call! I finally overtook the last of the walkers just before the tunnel. It was 9:28 as I entered the tunnel and the cut off time was 9:30 a.m. Thank you God! I have to say that I just didn't enjoy those first 8 miles, as I was so busy trying to play catch up. As I ran through the tunnel, I was so relieved to be able to run the whole race. I started to smile, and I smiled my way through the whole race. I thanked everyone I ran by and thoroughly enjoyed the day. I settled into my pace and maintained it the whole way. I have no idea how I was able to do that, except that I just relaxed. I passed the 10 mile mark and I felt great! I overheard someone say that he was starving, so I gave him a gel and kept on running. I called my husband and told him that I had arrived in time for the start of the race and that I had made the tunnel cutoff. I knew that he had been wondering and didn't want him to worry. I met up with someone named Ron at the half way mark and started to run with him. He said he was doing 8 and 2's and that was fine with me. We ran along and talked and the miles flew by. Around the 16 mile point, he started to struggle and decided he was going to run 6 and 4's. That was too slow for me, so I thanked him for his company and continued. Up ahead of me was someone who was running by herself so I asked her if I could run with her. She said yes, so I had a new friend. We ran along until we reached the bridge to Belle Isle. We ran around the island and eventually reached the bridge again. We stopped at the 20 mile marker and I asked a volunteer to take a picture of us with my camera. We went on until the 21 mile marker, when she needed to stop. I ran the last 5 miles by myself, but that was okay. By that point I was really tired and needed to concentrate to maintain my pace. I slowly started to pass more people. I had a chocolate cookie that a little girl was passing out. It was delicious. I had been taking gels throughout the race, but lost track of when I had taken the last one, as I was so busy enjoying myself. At the mile 22 marker I phoned my husband again to see where he was and he told me he was at the stadium waiting for me. I told him that I felt ok and hadn't hit the wall. There weren't many people around the last 4 miles. The bands had stopped playing and were putting their equipment away. The water stations were being dismantled but people were still giving out water, Gatorade and support! Even the pedestrians I passed were encouraging. I finally made it to the tunnel outside the stadium. I ran down it and onto the field. The finish was right in front of me, so I poured it on and sprinted to the finish. I passed a few people but the last person in front me started to sprint when I caught up to him. I tried to catch him but he finished in front of me. It was only after I crossed the finish line that I realized that I had been so busy racing to the end, that I forgot to look up and smile. Oops! I probably have a scowl on my face from trying beat that guy. Someone put a medal around my neck and commented that I had a lot left. I smiled as I realized that I actually did! I felt great, other than the fact that my legs hurt. I got my chip taken off and looked around the empty field. There were no volunteers around and I eventually found a table of water at the end of the field. I walked over and got a cup of water. I walked back across the field and got my picture taken with my medal.  I walked up the stairs to the top of the stadium and looked for food. I found an orange. That's all. It was pretty disappointing. One of the volunteers apologized for running out of food. Even though it took me almost 6 hours to run the marathon, I did finish before the time limit and felt that someone should have saved some food. I then walked over to the massage area but they weren't taking any more runners. I was upset at the lack of support in the finish line area but happy that I felt so good during and after the race. I didn't have any cramps, swelling or nausea. In fact, it was the  best run of my life. I felt better at the marathon finish than I had at my half-marathon finish in May. I don't think I will run Detroit again, though. I really felt ignored after I finished. I called my husband and met him and the kids outside the stadium. We left right away and stopped in Windsor for lunch. We drove home and I was really happy with my race. I accomplished my goal of finishing the marathon and managed a time under 6 hours. That was all that really important in the end! If you've read this far, bless your heart and thank you! Jo in To

 

Home

About Us

Calendar

T.O. FAQ

Photos

Links

Page last updated: Dec 3/05