Race Report: Twin Cities Marathon

This title is a little misleading, or completely misleading. You would think that I actually ran Twin Cities Marathon, but I didn’t. I had the misfortune of illness since Friday and it lingered until Sunday morning. Since I had my race number and my fantastic training partner Kimmi was racing, I did run from mile 20 to the finish line with her.

I was really disappointed to have to drop out of the race, but I knew it was best for my body. I had been looking forward to it as it is my hometown marathon, but taking care of my health needed to be on the top of my "to do" list this weekend. It was a good thing that I didn't run because the temperatures topped out at 82 during the race and it was muggy like a hot summer day. Talk about Indian Summer...

Mr. Fury took his bike out to mile 17 and caught Kimmi when, as she stated, "it's starting to hurt..." 17 is an early wall to hit, especially when the ALARC sponsored wall is at mile 20, but that was due to the weather conditions. It was like racing at Life Time Fitness Triathlon, it was HORRIBLE! I was so happy to meet Kimmi at mile 20, and I think she felt the same way. She started crying when she saw me and I told her to "put the tears away, we're not at the finish yet!" Besides, she was going to need that fluid for later in the race, NO WASTING!

Kimmi was in rough shape, her quads were cramping, she was dehydrated and she was drenched in sweat. All she wanted were some ice cubes, but there were none to be found. We did eventually find some around mile 23, but it was a long shuffle to find them. I kept telling Kimmi to smile when she wanted to frown. Here is a typical conversation:

::Kimmi frowning::

Me: Remember to smile, it helps!

Kimmi: Ok... (feabily)

Me: We're going to get through this. I'm going to get you across that finish line, I'll throw you across my back if I have to!!

Kimmi: Do you promise??

Me: Yes! I promise!! You can do this!!

Kimmi: Ok... (feabily)

Me: We just have to keep moving forward. If you start moving backwards, that's quitting and you're not quitting!

Kimmi: Ok, keep moving forward. I can do that, just not very fast.

And she was right, it wasn't very fast, but she never started moving backwards or stopped for too long. We momentarily paused to massage her quads and so that Kimmi could hug everyone we knew along the course. Hugs kept her going. The biggest thing that kept her moving was seeing our training partner and good friend Safety (Iron) Bob. All day we thought he had to work and was going to miss Kimmi's first marathon. He came through, as he always does, and was waiting for us at the Team in Training cheer station at mile 22. Kimmi was so elated she was crying and hugging and shuffling along all at the same time.

Safety (Iron) Bob ran along side us for about a 1/3 of mile and dropped off. After seeing and talking to him, Kimmi started running faster. She had more energy and I knew it really lifted her spirits to have Safety (Iron) Bob there cheering her on. We pretty much shuffled the rest of the way to the Cathedral with our friend Becca running alongside us on the sidewalk, cheering Kimmi on. We turned the corner at the Cathedral and Kimmi must have felt such relief to see the finish chute up ahead. We were running down the final hill to the finish when she said, "Can we slow down? I want to take it all in." So we slowed down, heard the crowd cheering her on, and I said to her, "See! You're a marathoner! You're going to finish!!" Kimmi has probably never been happier to see the finish line of any race she's participated in, and I couldn't be more proud of her. It was a rough day with the heat and humidity on a hilly course, but she pulled through it and I never doubted that for a second.

Congratulations Kimmi, you're a marathoner!