Torko Gorge Marathon

8 weeks before the marathon I found out I would have a babysitter and for the first time it would be possible for me to run. Of course this was also the year the Toroko Gorge Marathon did away with the 5k. The next option is the half marathon, and yadda yadda yadda, suddenly I was very behind in training for my first half marathon. A whole group of us from church and the community were training together, at least the crazy mountain run on Wed. and our Sat. morning long runs. It was wonderful to do it with friends.  

It was surprisingly difficult for both Nathan (training for the marathon) and I to get all of our runs in. It really is such an astounding time commitment. And then I was in the car accident and both Brandie and I struggled with running after our necks were injured. I can now testify to you of the insane ways ones neck and shoulders can completely tighten up and pull while you're running. We both wondered if we'd even be able to continue training. It was rough going. Add to that how I somehow got the flu not once, but TWICE, and my true training time was about 4 weeks. I never had the chance to do a longer run than 8 miles. And I didn't run once in the 12 days before the race. It really felt like everything was against me. 

Not to mention that I felt Nathan's race trumped mine, he prepared so much this year and I really wanted him to have his best race. 

Cut to the night before the race, we are at Silks Place having dinner. I'm supposed to be very conscious of what I eat and carb loading, but our kids have inhaled their dinner and are now being obnoxious so I take them back to the room and get them settled watching a movie. I go back to try and have a proper meal when Kenna runs in; Kohen has barfed. Awesome. Mere hours before the race and I suddenly don't know if I'm even going to get to run it. If he continued to be sick I couldn't leave him.

4am comes bright and early... well, at least early. Blessedly, Kohen was feeling better and so we headed down to the race with the Stathams.

Jeremiah was brilliant and brought a camping Jet Boil and made us oatmeal before the race. We stretched and had fun watching our fellow Asian runners do their gyrations and "stretches" before making our way down to the starting line. 

Here we are, moments before the race started. Nathan was so sweet with me through the whole training process. He was so encouraging and so proud of every small accomplishment I made. This was pretty much the last I saw of him at the race though, because the guy runs about twice as fast as I do! We started towards the back of the pack so I was able to pass tons of people, thousands actually. That part felt good.

The race starts with a mostly flat 4 miles, before turning up into the gorge where you run steadily up hill for the next 4.5 miles and then the 1/2 and Full marathoners part ways, the halfers turn and run down hill for their final 4.6 miles, while the Full continue up the gorge for many more miles.  

The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. It was a wonderful distraction for me.

And so was this guy. Can you believe I found him for the 3rd time, out of thousands of people? I recognized him from his shirt and I had to run SO hard to catch him because he was way up ahead of me. Then I had to run backwards to try and get this picture. It is an absolute marathon miracle!!!!

This is just one of many views we had, but to give you some spacial relativity, on the right side of the pic about half way down there is a faint horizontal white line. That is the road we ran, and you may have to enlarge to see but there are tiny runners on that road. The gorge walls vault up to incredible heights.

I ran by myself, did my own thing and felt really good until the last few miles once we had turned down hill. It happens to many of the runners, mostly those of us unprepared, but your muscles begin to seize up on you . They are not happy with the sudden downhill change. But I would just wait for a cramp to pass and then run hard again until another came on. It was painful but I knew I could do it. I came in a solid 15 minutes before my goal and I felt pretty good about that. It is a very hard course so I was proud of myself for even taking it on.

Here are my girls, Carrie, Brandie and I at the finish line with our medals. It was Brandie and I's first 1/2 marathon but Carrie is an old pro at these races. We all met or exceeded our personal goals for the race. Way to go girls!

Once I finished I began the wait for Nathan. The last 1/2 mile or so of the race is through this tunnel and not only is it difficult mentally to not be able to see that light at the end of the tunnel, it is difficult for those of us waiting for some one to come out of the tunnel. Then it started to downpour and everyone wanted to be in the tunnel!

After 3 tries Nathan has finally conquered the Toroko Gorge Marathon, meaning he has a respectable time he can live with. He finished first in our group of friends and I was so proud of him I could hardly stand it. I know how hard he worked for it.

I feel like the course was difficult but also worth it for the sweeping views you were privileged to see while running. And I was grateful for the opportunity to share in something that is such a big part of Nathan's life. I can finally talk "running" with the best of em.
Next year, November, if you want to join us!