We arrived in St. George around 6pm and went straight to the marathon expo at the convention center. The parking lot was still near full and the center packed. As soon as we entered the center we saw Tanner Bell, who manned the Ragnar booth on Friday and was there to support his wife's marathon run on Saturday. Tanner is still almost shockingly thin from the 90-Day program. He still had his left arm in a sling from dislocating his shoulder and breaking his collar bone while playing ultimate Frisbee. He told me he's lost even more weight since the injury because he's lost muscle as a result of not being able to work out.
Nina found a belt to hold her Goo and beans while running the marathon. I bought some socks and sunscreen. The quest for the perfect running sock seems almost as illusive as the quest for the perfect running shoe.
We had dinner at the home of the mother of Nina's friend Anndee. Several of Nina's couple friends from Ohio State were there, most also planning to run the marathon. Following dinner Anndee's brother-in-law Rick took us to his parent's huge post and beam cabin in Pine Valley, not far from the start of the marathon. I slept in a bunk room with a couple other guys, close to the door where I could make my way without incident to the bathroom during the night.
During dinner and then briefly at the cabin we watched Utah State dismantle BYU. Hard to believe BYU has fallen so far so fast. They have lost some great skill players but I couldn't help but think that coaching must be a problem. Sure enough, the day after the game BYU fired its defensive coordinator. I suspect more changes may be on the way. Seeing their ineptitude reminds me how hard it is to sustain excellence. There is not a huge gap between the good and the average. Hard work and a good system probably account for the distance even more than talent, as the Aggie's spirited demolition of more highly-recruited BYU athletes demonstrates.
We all arose early Saturday morning for the race. I assumed Nina would ride to the start with me. She loaded her bags in my car. I then saw her behind Rick's suburban with her friends. Next thing I knew Rick was backing out and she was gone. I assumed Nina was in Rick's Suburban with her friends but wasn't sure. I could have run into the cabin to check but Rick was on his way and I thought I'd better follow him. I assumed I would see Nina at the start.
Just before reaching the start area we were stopped by uniformed officers at a road block. They waived Rick through since he had several runners with him. Because I had no runners, they stopped me so, being in an area with no cell phone coverage, I couldn't be sure Nina was in Rick's Suburban. Nonetheless, I took the detour and started back to St. George, where I had planned to have a relaxing morning - breakfast, newspaper, book and wait for runners to come in. But I had the nagging concern that Nina might not have been in the Suburban and wanted to see the start anyway. I turned around, drove back to the road block, parked, and then walked the 200 or so yards through the brush to the start. Before reaching the start area I fell and drove a large thorn through the palm of my hand. A large pool of blood began to form in my hand, so I didn't notice till Nina pointed it out to me at the finish that another thorn cut up the back of my calf.
Trying to pick out one small blonde woman in the dark at the start area amid over 7000 runners proved impossible. I hoped I could find her in the 4 hour pace group, but no luck. Then I ran to the front of the start chute, where I hoped I could pick out Nina after the gun sounded when she came out of the chute. Again no luck. After the runners had all cleared I walked back to my car and drove the 10 or more miles back up to the cabin in Pine Valley. I found one of Rick's kids there, who assured me everyone was gone. Thus calmed, I departed again for St. George, only this time, with the main highway blocked for the marathon, I had no choice but to head north and drive through Cedar City. The whole operation involved a drive of 170 miles took over three hours. I made it to St. George right about 10AM, 3 hours and 15 minutes after the start.
As I drove up Bluff Street I saw cones blocking the street and runners crossing. They were moving surprisingly fast. I quickly found a place to park and walked uphill to a sidewalk along race course where I could continue to walk against the flow of runners and watch for Nina. I came upon an aid station where a volunteer told me it was 1.2 miles to the finish. Almost immediately I saw Nina's friend Holly run by. She had projected a finish time of 3:20, she was almost right on target.
I continued uphill, hoping to see Nina soon. At about 10:45 I was getting concerned when in the distance I saw a small blonde in red singlet with black shorts trimmed in red and green. I soon recognized her as Nina. To my relief, she looked good and was running efficiently. She saw me, flashed a huge smile and gave me two thumbs up. I snapped a couple photos as she ran past, and then called Tauni to report.
My next task was to make it to the finish line as quickly as possible. I was probably about 1 and a half miles out. I started to run, and as I did, found that the runners were moving faster than I thought, at what in my current state is a pretty brisk pace for me. I started cutting across parking lots and through a park to where I again met the race course. I ran on the opposite side of the street from the runners for their last two or three turns until I hit the final straightaway. I then saw Nina again, slightly ahead of me. I ran as fast as I could to pass her and get in position for a picture near the finish. Before I reached my goal a police officer waived me off the road and onto the sidewalk. There I found myself behind a wall of spectators and could barely see the runners but kept Nina in view as I continued to run down the sidewalk toward the finish. I snapped a few pictures holding my camera over spectators, hoping I would capture Nina. Finally, I reached the finish line grandstand and could see nothing more. I had no option then but to head to the finish area and hope I could find Nina.
The St. George Marathon is extremely well organized. My two encounters with local police attest to their efficiency at crowd control. That said, without Nina having a cell phone, and with thousands of runners and their families at the finish, it was going to be a long wait before I found her. I found the gate where runners emerged from the finish area and waited ... and waited ... and waited. After 45 minutes or so I found a clear area in the grass near the gate and sat down, hoping Nina would find me. After another half hour or so I saw her walk out the gate with her friend John Bowen. They were engaged in conversation and didn't see me. I finally got her attention. Her first words were, "It was HARD, Dad." But she then quickly added, "I ran 4:05. I wanted to run under 4 hours for you, but I gave it everything I had."
I told her I wanted her to break 4 hours for herself, but truthfully there was a big part of me that wanted to see her run as fast as I did on my one St. George attempt - 3:55. As it turned out, her time for a first marathon was very impressive on one of the hottest St. George Marathon days ever. Over 1700 of the 7000+ runners who started didn't finish. Average finishing time was 4:24. Two of Nina's friends collapsed on the course. One passed out near the finish. No one saw him for nearly a half hour, when his wife noticed him, got him revived and had a couple men carry him across the finish line. Another friend began vomiting around mile 18. It also took him about a half hour to calm his stomach and revive himself enough to walk to the finish.
It is quite a contrast between the universally energetic crowd at the start and the exhausted, sore runners at the finish. Those who spend the most time on the course seem to suffer the most. I noticed a big difference in the apparent condition of the runners on pace to finish in the 3:20 range and those finishing near or after 4 hours. Running a marathon under any conditions is a challenge. Running in the heat can be brutal. Nina prepared and managed the race well. She put in the requisite long runs, and during the race walked through the aid stations and kept herself well nourished and well-hydrated. She told me she was very glad she ran her own race rather than hanging with her friends who came in around 5 hours. After all her hard work, she deserved a time reflective of her effort.
It was a lot of fun for me to experience Nina's joy in her accomplishment. She told me more than once after the race, "I am SO happy, Dad." I enjoyed hearing her retell her race stories to friends. She told me she was so glad I was there with her, which made me feel very good.
Nina being Nina, she made a friend during the race, a woman named Merilee, who she ran with for the first 10 or so miles of the race. Merilee wanted to qualify for Boston, meaning a faster pace than Nina was running, so Nina let her go.
Merilee told Nina of her experience during the Red Rock Relay encountering a couple of threatening cowboys during the middle of the night. She said she prayed and was impressed to walk away from them when she saw a tall blonde runner who told her she could run with him. After awhile he said her pace was faster than his and asked if he could simply shine a light on her and run behind. Not long after her team van arrived and accompanied her to the exchange. When she told him about her protector, her teammates told her there was no one there.
After Nina told me this story she said she really wanted to reconnect with Merilee but didn't know her last name. Turned out she saw Merilee again around mile 23. Nina thought she might be able to find Merilee in the finish results and then locate her. Serendipitously, it seems, Nina's cousin Jeff's wife Alena wrote on the family website of her neighbor Merilee who had run the race and talked of a wonderful woman named Nina she met during the race. Alena posted Merilee's phone number and it turned out she was indeed Nina's new friend.
What unseen forces connect us with people? That is one I can't answer, though it certainly seems at times that an unseen hand guides us to people who bless our lives. Nina, with her warm and open heart, has a gift for making such connections.
A lot of memories of my St. George Marathon rushed back as I wandered the start area. I ran it in 1987, along with several friends, including running partner Charlie Allen, law partner Bob "Mad Dog" Henderson and Dr. Tom Dickinson. I had injured my hamstring and didn't run at all for the two weeks preceding the marathon. Consequently I was rested and my legs fresh on race day.
I vividly recall the cool morning and warming bonfires in the start area. I remember the excitement when we finally began our run and the ease of the first 13 miles. I followed a couple of runners, one a woman who kept up an entertaining stream of chatter for miles. I strategically walked the Veyo hill, thinking there was no point in expending a lot of energy on that climb, and walked through all aid stations, being careful to get lots of nutrition (in the form of Gatorade) and hydration (water). The easy running suddenly turned into a slog around mile 18. There a gradual 2 mile climb began and by mile 20 it was only by act of sheer will that I kept joining. Charlie's wife Suzi met me there, and ran most of the final six miles with me. She chatted the entire time and it took so much energy to concentrate that it almost heard to keep her tuned in. The final straightaway seemed endless, and then, suddenly, I was under the finish banner at 3:55. My friends had all finished long before me, but I was satisfied that I had run as well as I did, injury and all. For a day or two I had to walk down stairs backward, so sore were my quads. I only ran one more marathon, Portland in 1993, and there achieved my PR of 3:38. Being there with Nina made me wish I had run a few more. I am glad to have completed the two I did run.
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