I had so much fun with my large group of crazy friends! In our group of friends, there was 1 half-marathoner and 3 relay teams that consisted of 5-person teams that completed the 26.2 mile marathon.
It was cold! Like 25 degrees when we got out of the car! brrrrrrr. We found our bus that took us to each of our relay starting point. Thankfully the bus had heaters! After what felt like a pretty LONG ride, the bus pulled up to a Piggly Wiggly. We unloaded. After standing around for a little bit...the manager came to unlock the door. Splendid! Bathrooms and a heated store while we waited on our teammates to get to us. We watched the clock and thought about our friends at the start line, how excited and pumped it must've been. I was the 3rd person in my relay team. I did 6 miles. Miles 9-15 of the marathon.
Jennifer & I waiting on our teammates so we could take off.
I began my run energized and excited. By mile 9, which is where I started, the crowd was pretty thin and I had plenty of room. It was so strange, because I was passing people. I have never passed anyone! Not in a real race, or training with others. I'm the slow girl...or at least in my head I am. Granted, most of the people that I was passing had already ran 9 miles, because we joined in with the half and other individual full-marathoners. But none-the-less, it put a pep in a step and a boost of confidence! On my Map My Run app, I have it set to where the woman talks to me every 5 minutes, telling me my total time, distance and pace. My 1st 2 miles I held a 9:?? pace, I was shocked and excited, I didn't want to give that up. I've never ran a 9:anything. Heck, I'm usually an 11 minute/mile girl! I was pushing myself, rocking to my music, feeling inspired by the other hard workers next to me. Around my 4th mile, my woman said my pace was 10:05, 'NO!!!' At that point, I PUSHED HARDER, refusing any more water brakes for the last 2 miles. I have the ability to run, my breathing was right...so I worked my legs. Telling myself 'Faster, faster...keep going!' Running is nothing but a mind game. The last song with my ear plugs in before I met up with my teammate was "Girl on Fire" by Rhianna Alicia Keys. I raced to my teammate, passed off the ankle time-keeper-thingy. My world was spinning for a few minutes. I looked at the official app with our time....it said 09:55!!!! I did it. Again, I know for some that isn't fast, but I'm usually 10:30-11 minute/mile.
I'm so very proud of each one of my friends! Everyone pushed themselves and did a great job! It was SO MUCH fun doing this together as a big group!
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| Guys finished 1st...The Runnin Fools. Total time 3 hours 56 minutes. Average pace 9:02minutes/mile! |
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| Next across the finish line was the Pink Spankies. Total time 4 hours 19 minutes. Average pace 9:54minutes/mile! |
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| Last, but not least the Breathless Bandits. Total time 4 hours 30 minutes. Average pace 10:19 minutes/mile! |
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| Breathless Bandits |
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| Kristin, another friend that I meet up with at the end. She did her very 1st half-marathon and ROCKED it! Finishing in 2 hours 10 minutes, keeping a 9:58 pace. GREAT JOB girl, I'm SO proud! |
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| After Jim & Nicks fed us, we still stopped for some hot donuts. |
Would I do it again?????? You bet, as long as all my friends do it too! It was fun as a huge group. I was never alone. We were always checking on each others team and cheering on another on. Fun day for sure!
Update: These are the OFFICIAL TIMES...
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