The Portland Marathon was eons ago! November flew by in a flash. It was a cray cray month and I just didn’t have any writing in me. I barely even had any running in me. In October, I was consumed by baseball! Yes, baseball! After last year’s horrendous season and the disastrous collapse in 2011, the Red Sox finally made it back to the playoffs and I was going to devote any extra time to watching every game I could…even in Portland.
Game 1: Rays vs Red Sox
Game 2: Rays vs Red Sox (day before the marathon)
Yeah some people don’t understand my passion for it, but the people who are closest to me aren’t surprised. And of course, the Red Sox won the World Series so it was all worth it. But this post isn’t about baseball. This is about the Portland Marathon…uh 2 months later (or at least very close to it).
Shortly after getting to the start line, everyone sang about 30 seconds of “Sweet Caroline” in honor of the Boston Marathon, followed by the Star Spangled Banner. The temperature was around 40F at the start and warmed up to a nice 60-70F later in the day. Gorgeous! Thanks Portland for giving us the best race day weather the past 2 years!
Umm, I still have 26.2 miles left to go.
And we’re off!
Now, I love the Portland Marathon and this was my second time doing it having completed it last year. The main difference this time around was that I didn’t realize there were a whole lot
more hills than I remember.
more hills than I remember.
I see you up there little hill.
For some reason during my first time here, I was in awe of how flat this course was, and I guess it is still relatively flat compared to other much hillier marathons. Uh um, LA. But this time I kept asking myself where did all these inclines come from? Maybe I didn’t train as well as I thought I did and I thought my training for last year’s wasn’t all that great. Either way I still had a great time because this marathon is great! The scenery is wonderful! And the people are awesome!
I think they thought I went left. Explanation to come.
I was still feeling really good going through the neighborhoods and seeing these rowdy crowds. But sometime after we passed our final Checkpoint Charlie and made our way up the big hill, I started to not feel so great. I was getting really tired and I was starting to feel very achy. This was around mile 16. Yikes. I’ve got a good 10 miles to go and to start having the wheels come off at this point wasn’t a good feeling.
The wheels are starting to come loose.
I ain’t feeling this hill.
Crossing a bridge. I ain’t feeling it.
They’re on to me.
Can these shoes finish the last 4 miles for me?
The last few miles were rough. I couldn’t have been happier when I finally crossed the finish line. I was so overwhelmed with joy that I grabbed my medal and the abundant spread of goodies the finish line provides and met up with my family.
Marathon 21 in the books!
Now I’ve always taken it in good faith that when you cross the finish line and get your medal, that medal is actually correct. Well, I looked at the medal but I didn’t look at the medal. I was tired and really just wanted to stuff my face with food at this point.
At first glance it looks like the full marathon medal but look closely. Very closely.
Something is wrong.
It says Half Marathon! Doh! What?! How did that happen? Uh oh, somebody in Quality Control took a little siesta during inspection. Well, when you compare the actual half marathon medal to the full marathon medal, I suppose they look fairly similar.
We’re the same! But different. But the same!
I immediately contacted the wonderful folks at the Portland Marathon to let them know and a few weeks later I got the correct medal. I sent them back the imposter medal. But I learned a valuable lesson…always look at the medal right when you get it.
I’ve enjoyed my time spent in Portland and doing the Portland Marathon but I probably won’t be doing it next year. Not because of the whole medal thing, or clearly noticeable hills this time around. It’s just that I have a list of marathons I’d like to accomplish in my lifetime
and it’s time for me to look to other races I’d like to cross off the list. Thanks Portland, you’ve been great! I’ll be back at some point, just not soon.
and it’s time for me to look to other races I’d like to cross off the list. Thanks Portland, you’ve been great! I’ll be back at some point, just not soon.
Thanks for reading and Happy Running!