This post is dedicated to Linda. It is due to her help and support that I finished the race.
Sunday morning, 6:45 am.
From the hills of Kijabe, we descended on Nairobi. We’ve eaten our Cliff bars and have Gu in our pockets. We’ve trained and have goals. Watch out, Kenya.
Around 15,000 people lined up at the starting point as the announcer cautioned, “Please do not push!” And, we were off!
Ava stayed behind to cheer for her daddy, Todd:
I had a goal of finishing in 2:00. I hadn’t actually made it up to 13 miles before the race, but we’ve been running at a higher elevation and over some hilly, rocky terrain, so I was counting on the 2,500 foot drop and a nice, flat, paved course to cut some time off. Things were going pretty well for about 5 miles, when I felt a weird twinge in my right ankle. Over the next mile it spread up my calf and by the halfway point I was struggling to walk, much less run.
Oooh, I was angry. And hurting. A bad combination when you’re watching people stream by that you worked hard to pass for the past 50 minutes. I hobbled along by myself for a good two hours, trying to talk myself out of a serious depression and making small goals. At this point I doubted that I could finish and was trying to scheme a way to get a ride to the finish line. I debated catching a ride on a wheel chair. . .
Then, from the sidelines, I spotted her – Linda my Lifesaver. A friend from Kijabe, she was supposed to meet me at mile 10 and run the last three miles together. She heard that I was struggling and met me at 8 or so. This improved my mood exponentially, so see a familiar face! We hobbled through the next 5 miles together, sometimes doing a little trot-run but mostly just walking. And talking, making plans for our next race. The marathon course doubled up on ours so it’s always encouraging to see them pass you . . . and know it’s their second time around. Of course their legs are ridiculously muscular, and this is Kenya. But it really put it into perspective when a marathoner in wheelchair pedaled by. Sheesh. Finally we rounded the final bend and I insisted that Linda join me for the final lap around Nyayo Stadium. We even managed to pass a few people wearing jerseys that indicated they were part of the “Greatest Race on Earth” – a circuit including Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai, and Hong Kong. Small victories.
But the fun wasn’t over yet! As we looked for everyone else, we got a call that Todd had gotten dehydrated and had to be shuttled to the finish in an ambulance. Thus began The Search – asking the police for help finding the ambulances wasn’t too successful. Linda found an ambulance driver and asked her for help, “Our friend was dehydrated and taken here in an ambulance. Where can we find him?” “Ma’am, if he’s dead, he’s in the mortuary.” Such compassion . . . finally we found Todd inside the stadium, getting an IV.
Back in August, three of us decided to train for this thing together. Todd was definitely the rock star. He always showed up for our weekend long runs excited to be there. He was constantly ready to run farther or faster. Matt is a good runner, too, but had some issues with dehydration and took some serious time off during the 4 weeks before the race. I was the girl runner, so normally I’d slow down towards the end and the guys would circle back to keep me company, but at least I’d had the advantage of running a half before. So the end results? Todd is so awesome that he had to pass out before he quit, 2k from the end. I get some random injury. But Matt tore it up in 1:50. Way to represent! I'm proud . . .
We spent some time with Todd and I got an ice pack for my mystery injury. At one point I looked up to see a camera man for SuperSport5 zooming on Todd’s face as they hooked him up. And then the interviews began - Dr. Rich first (the race is a lot like life) and then me! I said a bunch of stuff that would get me on TV – a privilege to run with the world’s greatest marathoners, I’ll be back next year, inspiring, blah blah. Hilarious. I wish it was on youtube.
When it was time to go, the ice and rest caused my leg to seize up and I was really struggling to walk. This is where Linda went above and beyond. After hobbling at a snail’s pace, Linda offered to piggy back me to the meeting area. And I took her up on it. So not only did she keep me company for half the race, and run through the stadium with me, but she carted me around as well. And bought me a water bottle. She is awesome.
So this is where I should pull out a life lesson on perseverance or something. I guess that’s true . . . I’m glad I finished, even if it wasn’t the finish I’d hoped for. The injury is feeling better, but I won’t be running for a bit. In the end, I don’t even know my time since there was no clock at the finish line. I’m thankful for Linda, thankful Todd is OK, and that everybody else did well. And I’m ready to kill the next race.
