Salt Lake City Marathon

April 17, 2010, 7th annual Salt Lake City Marathon. We had some beautiful weather this year. It got up to the low 70's at midday, and even though it was the warmest day of the year, so far, in SLC it wasn't overwhelming. I hadn't trained like I should have since last September and I could really tell. I ran the first half with my buddy, Vijay, who was running the 1/2 marathon. The halfers split off at about mile six and that was the last I saw of him. As it turns out our times for the half were only about forty seconds apart. There were about 1050 finishers in the marathon and about 4500 finishers in the half. So, it got a little lonely after the split from the crowd. Just after mile 16 I was almost done with the Van Winkle hell stretch when all of a sudden got hit from behind by a bike marshall. He must have glanced away and didn't see me. We tumbled all over together and then came to rest in a heap. Thankfully, there wasn't any blood and after a few moments the police helped me up and I was on my way. I didn't feel any after effects from the crash until a few hours after the race. I now have a tender hip and my back is a bit sore, but I expect to be fine in a couple of days. I knew I wouldn't break five hours, so did a bit more walking than usual to preserve myself from exhaustion. I walked all of mile 21 and figured out that at that pace I wouldn't be able to break six hours, so I mixed in some running and ended the last few miles by walking a block and then running a block. I love, love, love the finish down the middle of the Gateway with the remaining spectators cheering us on. I was joined by my three youngest and we crossed the finish line together. That is always a real thrill for me. Two major drawbacks this year: NO gels or bars at any of the aid stations (had they announced that I would have brought my own, but they always had them in the past, so I decided to go without my own for the first time.) and no food left at the end, in fact they were taking down the food tables as I walked through the chute. Other than that it is a very well organized race.

www.saltlakecitymarathon.com