Twin Cities Marathon – Race Day
By James T. Small
It was finally here, my 340 days of training were about to be tested.
I’d been watching the forecast for about about two weeks, and each day it was revised, it looked like it was even more perfect than the day before! I was glad about that, because I had done a few long runs in the heat of the summer and they didn’t go well at all.
Saturday night’s pre-race meal was at my in-law’s house, I considered attending the pasta party for the TCM itself, but opted not to, as I did not want to deal with any digestive issues during the race. So, Kimberly and I shopped, and cooked, and were able to control what went into the meal.
After dinner, Kimberly and I sat down with my in-laws and developed a plan for Kimberly and the kids to be stationed at mile 16, then again at the finish for the next day. Thankfully, my brother in law was willing to help out with some of the logistics and getting Kimberly picked up and brought to where she needed to go.
With the plan in place, we departed Coon Rapids for the Marquette Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. I needed to finish some of the smaller details for the morning, so things would go smoothly for me.
After a good night sleep (even though people told me to anticipate not sleeping well that night), the alarm went off at 4:45, despite the race time of 8:00. I knew what I needed to do for the morning, and I needed that time to myself to take each step one by one making sure they all got done.
After a calculated, relaxed morning, I left the Marquette Hotel for the Metrodome. I had intended on taking a taxi to the dome because at 6:45 it was still only about 45 degrees. However, when I got outside seeing other runners walking the 8 block walk, I decided to join them. Most of those runners were headed to the 10 mile run which started an hour before the marathon.
Upon reaching the start line for the 10 mile run, I turned and headed toward the dome, made my way inside, and walked toward the marathon side of it. There were already thousands of runners inside eating, stretching, and waiting in line for the toilets. I found a spot near a stairwell and sat down and began to stretch.
I had about 40 minutes before I needed to head outside to the corrals for the start. This would allow me plenty of time to ensure a very thorough warm up. Lots of families came with to take pictures with the runners. Those without families present were not very friendly, and didn’t really want to talk.
At 7:40 I made my way outside and began the walk to my corral (#3-the slow runners). Once there, I found found the pace group that I signed up to run with, 5 hours, and continued to stretch a bit. The corral began to fill up. There was a woman next to me,that I struck up a conversation with, Jen, it was her first marathon also. We talked for a few minutes, asking each other about spouses, kids, etc and that helped pass the time until the singing of the National Anthem and the start of the race. As the wheel chair racers started, then the elites at 8:00, then corral #2 at 8:05, soon it was our turn. As we made the turn from Carew Dr onto 5th Street, I asked if she cared if I ran with her for a while. She thought that would be great.
At 8:09:50 the countdown started for our corral, and we were released at 8:10 on the dot! It took me about a minute to cross the starting line, and knew that all I had trained for was now in front of me, and I could not wait!
Jen and I started together, she warned me in the first few steps that she was a talker, and asked if that made a difference to me running with her. I simply smiled and we continued together for the next 20 miles.
The streets of Minneapolis were pretty quiet. I actually expected a few more spectators to be out along 5th street. When we made the turn on Hennepin Ave, there was a few more people that accompanied a very strong headwind. Thankfully that was short lived.
Jen and I made our way through the early miles of the course together continuing to talk about training, the pace group we were with, and anything else that entered our mind. Around mile 3 she had a friend that was planning to hop in and run with her for a little while. That woman ran with Jen and I for about the next 4 miles. They talked, I ran. I was simply trying to take in as much as I possibly could of this day, and this experience. That was the advice that was given to me, and that is what I intended on doing. As we approached the lakes of Minneapolis, the spectators began to grow, which was great to see! In fact, i couldn’t believe how many people we were seeing now. Not to mention the countless number of signs, cowbells, and yard parties!
During the run around the first 3 lakes, I must have heard the theme to Rockey about 4 times, and thought that was getting a bit old. I did have an iPod with me, but wanted to save that for when things weren’t going so well, or if I just needed a boost. Probably the most entertaining part of the day were all the signs people made for the runners. There were quite a few good ones too! I think my favorite one was “26.2, because 26.3 would be crazy!”. That along with “Worst parade ever!” were my two favorites.
The first 8 miles went by faster than any run I had ever done in training. In fact, one woman who was near me said, what happened to the mile 7 marker? I missed that! I said, well, looks like you are one more mile closer then!
After Jen’s friend left, we were headed toward Lake Nakomis, and mile 11. This was important because this is where my first support was going to come. My dad, Debbie, Ryan and Annie were all going to be there before we turned south on Cedar Ave. I could see them as I approached waving there bright pink signs they made up. I smiled as they took a picture and cheered for me, then grabbed a bottle of Heed and a Hammergel and continued on toward mile 12.
At the half marathon point, still running around Lake Nakomis I looked at my time on my watch. My time was only 1 minute slower than I ran the half marathon on Sept 11. I thought if I kept that pace I’d be in under 5 hours for sure!
Mile 14, and Dad & Crew again! Another Hammergel and bottle of Heed. I didn’t drink much of the first one, but it was nice to have for extra insurance. I appreciated them walking the almost mile from 11 to 14, it was great seeing familiar faces in the streets!
Mile 15. Barry and Erin Ellinger, along with their two daughters and dog! It is a cool feeling to hear your name called out, but when your friends are SCREAMING it out and then jump in and run with you, so much better! Thanks Barry and Erin for coming out! Also at this point, my new running friend Jen, husband joined us for some added support.
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Mile 16. This is a big one for me for more than one reason. First, 2 Mondays ago, while doing my 20 mile run, as I approached mile 16, I felt a “pop” in my left foot. Long story short, it was an irritated tendon, that rest and ice made possible to run today. Secondly, Kimberly, Jonah, Janae, and my entire In-Law family unit was going to be at this mark. I was excited to see them, even though it was for about 15 whole seconds. They would also be giving me yet another bottle of Heed and a Hammergel for fuel. As I ran by, everything went silent for me. I was focused on Kim and the kids. I ran up to Janae who had my fuel, grabbed it from her, gave her a kiss on the forehead, and moved on to Jonah. I
did the same to him. At the end of the line was Kimberly, I gave her a quick hug and kiss, and she told me to keep going, so off I went. I was glad that everything worked out that morning for her to get to the point where she did. Now, I was anxious to see them all again at the finish.
Mile 18, I knew my best friend in school from 5th grade on was going to be near this mark, who also would be handing over more fuel! I was beginning to get tired of the constant holding of a water bottle, and many times, after only a few sips I would toss them aside. I think being handed a bottle was more of a mental game for me than anything. When I got close to 18, I noticed my buddy Dan, and he brought with him our other good friend Kristen Bebeau. I stopped quickly to give them both a hug and a thank you, then continued on, asking if they’d make it out to the bar that night. Unfortunately, they were not able to.
Crossing the Franklin Street Bridge was perhaps the most beautiful point of the day. Looking south over the Mississippi River with the fall colors in their peak season was absolutely beautiful. I pointed it out to Jen and her husband and they all agreed. I am glad that I took time to look, again, part of enjoying the day.
Mile 19, This is the furthest I had ran/walked (traveled) during my training. I never did finish the 20 mile run. As we passed this mark, I told Jen that with each step I am covering distance I’d not gone before. She congratulated me, and we continued. At 19.1, the named sponsor of the TCM had a lot going on, water spot, bands, crowds, etc. It was great.
Mile 20. Bittersweet. The long awaited uphill battle begins – literally. I finally made my 20 mile run, pain free from my foot, feeling great, had a friend to run with, and then Jen said to me, “I really want to try and finish under 5 hours, would you be upset with me if I picked up my pace a little bit?” I said, “absolutely not, good luck, it’s been great running with you!” We gave each other sort of a “side hug type thing while running” and that was it. I was now alone for the last 6 miles, 385 yards. Oddly enough, at this point in the day, the 5 hour pace group had also caught back up to me, so I decided that I would try and run with them to the finish, which is what my plan was at the beginning of the day.
Mile 21. I was beginning to tire, My feet were sore, but only from using them, not pain like I had experienced 2 weeks prior. I started to walk a bit. I could still see the 5 hour pace group, but knew that I would not finish with them.
Mile 22. This marked the turn on to Summit Avenue. This is where mom was going to be. As a I approached the turn, I noticed mom’s husband, David, I smiled, waved, said hello, and he took a couple pictures. Then, mom was around the corner, with yet another bottle of Heed, and offered me Hammergel, but I declined them, I was still carrying about 6 of them in my fuel belt.
Mile 22.5 Anne (Cardwell) Jones. A long time friend from working at the pools together to attending UND together for a couple years also. I was running with my iPod at this point, and just happend to take out 1 ear bud. When I did, I could hear someone screaming my name! I looked and there she was, with her two daughters looking at her like she was crazy! I ran towards her and grabbed her for a big hug. She encouraged me to keep going, and it took everything I had to let go of her and do that. It was so great to see her for those 25 seconds.
Mile 22.8. Another long time friend, someone I consider a big sister. This woman took me under her wing in high school and sorta showed me the ropes. Last year, when I began running and posting workouts on Facebook, she would encourage me on each one. At New Year’s this year, we had a text message conversation, and agreed to become each others training partner from a distance. We’d text each other our workouts, results, calories burned, etc, and for the most part we did a great job doing that this year. So, at mile 22.8 (or so), my big sis, Kirsten Johnson Kjome took care of me. She saw me at a brisk walk, I was tired, emotional, could picture myself finishing, but just was having a hard time getting my legs to run. She brought me a bag of wet wipes to wash my face, a towel to dry it, another Hammergel (which was declined), and a much needed bottle of water. I was tired of Heed and Perpetuem that I’d been drinking all day. She gave me some encouraging words, told me how far the finish line was, and sent me on my way running. I needed this push.
Miles 23-25 may have been the longest 2 miles of the entire day. It was a combination of running and brisk walking. Summit Ave was packed with spectators and runners. I was noticing the people around me, many of them I recognized from early in the day, others were people that started strong and slowed down, or got hurt and were simply walking now to the finish. One pair of individuals were both jogging with bags of ice tapped to their knees. I was thankful and fortunate not to be in that situation.
Mile 25. The last water stop, put on by Delta Airlines. One of my Fraternity Brothers, a Delta Pilot told me he was going to be at this stop. As I approached the stop I spotted him, in the clothes that he said he’d be wearing. Chris Beaucage gave me a big high five as I got to him, and he dropped what he was doing and ran along side me. He told me I needed to carry a flag to the finish. I said, “No, I don’t. I have enough to carry, but you are welcome to carry one for me”. I walked through the water stop (some very good advice I received, and did that through each one), and Chris sent me on my way. I know had 6435 feet to go (1.2 miles).
Mile 25-26 were a time of some self reflection from the last 340 days of my life. To think, on October 29, 2010 I could not even run for 2 minutes on a treadmill, and now, I am 1 mile from finishing a marathon. I began to think again about why I was doing this.
I did this marathon for myself. 
I did this marathon because when I started training for it, I could not stand to look at myself in the mirror. 340 days later, I look better, feel better, but still have work to do.
I did this marathon because I wanted to help teach my children that you only get one body and you need to take care of what God has given you.
I did this marathon because I am tired of people at work telling me how fat I am.
I did this marathon because people told me that I would not finish, that I would either quit or die.
I did this marathon because I could.
Approaching Mile 26. Finally, it was here, and I could see the finish. It was finally, literally “all down hill from here”. I had been thinking about this moment since April 6th. How was it all going to end? There were a lot of songs that I trained to over the past 18 weeks, and a few stood out as contenders for me to run the last few hundred yards. I decided on “Lose Yourself” by Eminem. As I turned it on, I began to sprint and listening to the music. If you haven’t heard the song, listen to it.
Approximately 50 yards from the finish, I popped my ear buds out, to experience, everything that I was feeling. The crowd was going nuts for each and every finisher! Cowbells, people whistling, screaming people, clapping, the type of thing that would give anyone the chills. Then, I crossed the first set of mats, before the finish line. I wasn’t sure what these were for, but then, a few seconds later, I heard my name! Then, it happened. My arms went up, a smile crossed my face and I crossed the finish line! I was a marathon finisher, at a chip time of 5 hours 7 minutes 44 seconds.
After receiving my finishers medal, I made my way through the finishers chute, and grabbed a little bit of food, and a bottle of water. I looked for the area for a massage, and saw that I would be standing for quite some time if I was going to get a massage. I skipped that part. Then, I found the area to receive my new favorite shirt, my Twin Cities Marathon finishers shirt! I got that, and then headed out to the designated and pre determined meeting location for Kimberly, the kids, and me.
As I have thought back over the last 2 weeks since I finished, I would not have changed anything about October 2, 2011. This day marked the day that I made a change for myself, a change for my health, the proof that I can actually set a goal and obtain it. On this dayt no matter what or no matter who doubts you, no matter who says you can’t do it, if you believe in your heart and your mind, you can do anything!
Thank you to all of my friends and family who put up with me talking about this race for 6 months, training for 6 months, and thank you all for believing in me.
If you would like to organize a Running Mate Turkey Trot in your area for local runners as well, just let me know and I’ll post the details here on the Running Mate Website. Doesn’t need to be anything fancy. As the organizer, you just need to measure out a 5K path and send me the location and meeting time. I just thought this would be a fun opportunity for some of us to get together and do a little jog before we indulge ourselves with massive quantities of turkey and pumpkin pie.
