Bayshore Marathon

Bayshore Marathon
Date: May 23, 2009
Location: Traverse City, MI
Finish Time: 4:01:36
Pace: 9:13 min/mi

My first race was the Bayshore Marathon in 2009. I had graduated college in April and knew long before May that I wanted to run a marathon. It was a big move to go from a 10K to a marathon and I was nervous for months leading up to the race. But when the day came, I was ready to go and excited for the chance to accomplish something great!


My sister, Andrea, was initially going to run the race with me as well, but an injury earlier in the year pushed her back to the 10K race. The two of us along with my friends, Justin and Selby, all road up to Traverse City on Friday and stayed at a hotel just outside of the downtown. The night before I was very nervous. Would I wake up in the morning? Am I eating enough? Will I make it through the whole race? I wasn't sure.

We ate a big dinner and came back to the hotel room plenty early to be prepared in the morning. Justin and Selby both stayed out for a while as they encountered some old friends who would give them a ride later.

Around 5 AM I woke up and changed into my running clothes and went out to the lobby to find it filled with other people in their running gear. Up to that point, I had never experienced so many chipper people that early in the morning. I choked down some breakfast, a yogurt and banana and maybe some cereal, and then my sister and I drove over to the high school where the starting line was.

It was madness, but the sun was starting to rise by the time we got our gu packets attached, bibs secured, and shoes laced. We ventured across the high school field and found our way to the start line. My starting gate was well before Andrea's, but I would return much later than she did. I remember that it was a small two lane road that had hundreds of runners crammed onto the asphalt. I was thankful that my sister could stand next to me as we got started. I could nervously spout things in the chill May air and have some soothing comments back.

When the gun went off, we started slowly, but soon found ourselves running through the streets of Traverse City on our way to the small road that would take us up and back on the tiny Leelanau Peninsula. To be honest, most of the race is a blur. I know I ran in my running shorts, under armor WMU broncos shirt, and a bandana to keep the sweat out of my eyes. I had four gus for energy along the way and stopped at every water station.

I ran very well until about the 20 mile mark. It was then that I was tired. On routes where I pass by the same things out and back, I always struggle because I wonder when I'm going to arrive back at that rock I saw. Or when I make that turn again. At around 20 miles, I hadn't seen a turn I was expecting and I started to break down mentally. I was tired. It was getting warm. And I wondered where the end was.

I walked for about a mile, and then picked it up again, but my pace was slower for the rest of the race. I couldn't sustain the rest of my run like I had been. There were encouraging words from the crowd and in several places some highly enthusiastic coaches pushed me onward with words of how I had trained for it and how I couldn't let the girl runners beat me. I smiled, but my legs were in some pain.

At around mile 26.1 I saw Andrea and my two friends. At that point I knew I was there, though the evil course marshals made us all run a lap around the high school track before making it to the finish. It was then that I finished the course. I ended just over 4 hours, which made me yearn for the next race, because I knew that if I had ran even a half mile more, I would have made it sub 4 hours.

This is the joy of running. Despite the fact that my legs were burning, my quads were hurting, and I could hardly walk around town that night, I wanted to run another marathon, so that I could break 4 hours. For my first marathon, I was happy to have the support of my sister and friends. I was happy to say I completed something so big. I was happy to have finished in a respectable time and that I was able to live another day to tell about it. It pushed me to want to do more.