Congratulations to all finishers on 10/10/10! Mother Nature dealt a crooked hand this past Sunday in Portland, OR. Soggy shoes, soggy shirts, and soggy shorts ruled the morning. Our TeamGFR Marathon and Half-Marathon group performed bravely! Finishers endured a record setting rainfall for marathon day and a record crowd of runners and walkers.
Here’s a link to the pictures Susan took: [You may have to paste it into your browser or go to the GFR Facebook page.]
Pictures from 2010 Portland Marathon: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=226386&id=87156918283
Many of you are still a bit sore today. Most are happy they finished. Some are admittedly a little (or a lot) disappointed they did not meet their intended goal time. Regardless of that finish time, YOU ARE A MARATHONER or a HALF MARATHONER!
As I have reminded folks after numerous marathons. You are now a member of an elite bunch of folks. Less than 1/10 of 1% (that’s .001 for the decimal minded) of the US population finished a marathon last year. How many people can confidently say they are in the 99.9+ percentile in anything? Congratulations – you can make that claim! Don’t believe me? Here’s your proof:
The Running USA Annual Report on the State of the Sport: http://www.runningusa.org/node/57770
Susan and I have spoken to a lot of folks. Emailed a few more. And posted to a whole bunch of Facebook profiles. Ladies and Gentlemen, that was a tough day. No one should feel disappointed with their performance. You may not believe me at this point (just 2 or 3 days after the race), but some day soon – maybe not this week or next – but soon, you will look at that finisher’s medal and wear that finishers shirt and shed tears of joy while feeling an intense sense of accomplishment. You EARNED that medal and shirt on Sunday. No one can take that away from you. Think about ALL the days that went into earning that medal and shirt. It didn’t just happen magically on Sunday 10/10/10.
Not only did you endure nearly 3/4 of an inch of rain, you made it through over 5 months of consistent training. Are you fitter, thinner, healthier than you were 5 months ago? Did you meet and get to know some brand new and absolutely awesome people over the last 5 months? Did you find yourself actually looking forward to getting up early on Saturday mornings – and behaving a bit more on Friday nights? Did your life change? Did your accomplishment inspire others to make changes in their lives? Do you realize the impact that medal around your neck had on your family, friends, and co-workers? How does it feel to be inspirational?
I’ll admit, I have had a few brutal marathons. More of them have been successes, but none of them have been a “walk in the park.” My first experience at the Boston Marathon in 2005 was affected by an unseasonably hot day and I wilted miserably over the last 4.5 miles. I was disappointed and felt that sense of failure. I was kicking myself around inside my head. It was still obvious on my face a couple of hours after the race. Then something extraordinary happened. Susan and I were doing the tourist thing, walking around Boston wearing my finisher’s shirt with my medal around my neck. While we were waiting at a crosswalk for a traffic light to change, a guy holding a cigarette and wearing a Boston Red Sox ballcap asked me how I did. I mumbled something like “Well, I finished, but I didn’t hit my goal.” He looked at me in absolute amazement. He tossed his cigarette aside and threw his hands up in the air and shouted, “What’re you talkin about? You finished da Bah-stun marathon! Bah-stun, man! Nobody cares what your time was – you did it!”
Ah – perspective!
Susan and I are excited to hear your post-marathon stories. We will listen and offer advice on how to get closer to those goals in the next one. But expect the same reaction from us as that guy on the Boston street corner: “What’re you talkin about? You finished da Portland marathon! Portland, man! Nobody cares what your time was – you did it!
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Have a great week! Please plan on attending the Celebration and Kickoff on Thursday November 4th. We want to see ALL of you PROUDLY wearing those finishers shirts!
4 Responses to “Thoughts: Post-PDX Marathon 10/10/10”
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Over the last week, I’ve spoken to many people who were disappointed in their marathon experience. I did not run the marathon this year, but had the privilege of cheering on the runners with my daughter.
I can empathize with the frustration of not achieving a time goal. You work so hard for 5 months to build up to this one race. You’ve done everything you can to get ready for this one day. You’ve felt pretty good during those training runs and the first time you broke 20 miles, it wasn’t too bad. Then, during that marathon, you experienced aches, pains and cramping that you’ve never felt before. You’re thinking to yourself, “its not suppose to be feel like this, why am I doing this?” Your mind is telling you to stop, your body is telling you to stop, but you know there is this finish line that you’ve worked so hard to cross. So you keep on going. That’s the incredible achievement. You were able to find the strength to keep on going. I’ve spoken with doctors who said that running a marathon was harder than medical school. I’ve spoken with mothers who said that a marathon was harder than labor and delivery (all scenarios without drugs). I think that’s the beauty of finishing a marathon. You learn that when you’re exhausted, mentally and physically drained, you dig down deep and find a strength you never knew you had. Forget about time, you’re a survivor……you’re a finisher.
Few people in the world decide to train for a marathon, fewer complete the training and even fewer finish a marathon. If my math is correct, 1/10th of 1% is 1 out of 10,000. By finishing a marathon, you finished something that 9,999 members of the US population couldn’t. Congratulations!
Over the last week, I’ve spoken to many people who were disappointed in their marathon experience. I did not run the marathon this year, but had the privilege of cheering on the runners with my daughter.
I can empathize with the frustration of not achieving a time goal. You work so hard for 5 months to build up to this one race. You’ve done everything you can to get ready for this one day. You’ve felt pretty good during those training runs and the first time you broke 20 miles, it wasn’t too bad. Then, during that marathon, you experienced aches, pains and cramping that you’ve never felt before. You’re thinking to yourself, “its not suppose to be feel like this, why am I doing this?” Your mind is telling you to stop, your body is telling you to stop, but you know there is this finish line that you’ve worked so hard to cross. So you keep on going. That’s the incredible achievement. You were able to find the strength to keep on going. I’ve spoken with doctors who said that running a marathon was harder than medical school. I’ve spoken with mothers who said that a marathon was harder than labor and delivery (all scenarios without drugs). I think that’s the beauty of finishing a marathon. You learn that when you’re exhausted, mentally and physically drained, you dig down deep and find a strength you never knew you had. Forget about time, you’re a survivor……you’re a finisher.
Few people in the world decide to train for a marathon, fewer complete the training and even fewer finish a marathon. If my math is correct, 1/10th of 1% is 1 out of 10,000. By finishing a marathon, you finished something that 9,999 members of the US population couldn’t. Congratulations!
It’s nice to get the other perspective….even if I’m reading it almost a month later. I was soooo disappointed in my performance that Sunday morning. I did worse than I did on my very first marathon earlier this year, and I still have chafing from the very soggy run. I remember telling myself I was never going to run a marathon again! However, it is my hope to improve that awful time. 🙂 Thank you for all the encouragement!!!
It’s nice to get the other perspective….even if I’m reading it almost a month later. I was soooo disappointed in my performance that Sunday morning. I did worse than I did on my very first marathon earlier this year, and I still have chafing from the very soggy run. I remember telling myself I was never going to run a marathon again! However, it is my hope to improve that awful time. 🙂 Thank you for all the encouragement!!!