Home Streach - 2006 MCM

After leaving Crystal City I knew I was in the home stretch. It was 24 miles into the run, leaving just 2.2 miles. On the map it’s just a (kinda) straight shot to the finish line. At this point most of the people around me were walking. I felt myself wanting to walk. I didn’t feel worn out and I didn’t feel in pain. My brain just told me that it would be nice to walk a mile or two. I disagreed with my brain and ran. I ran at a pretty good pace too, probably close to ten minute miles.

I had a great time running here. Most of the people were walking, so I was passing people all the time. Just knowing that I still had the strength to run at a good clip at the end of the run was great. Knowing that I could be done in less that half an hour was even better.

The energy didn’t last to the finish line. Around 25.5 miles I decided to walk. I could feel that my legs were really tired. Not sore or hurt, just tired. I knew the last .2 miles was up a hill and I didn’t want to walk up any part of that. So I decided to walk here to save some strength.

Mile marker 26 was at the base of the finishers hill. I saw Greg and Meredith there, waiting to cheer me on. They gave me some encouragement and motivation to finish strong. Seeing them was a great mental boost. There were a bunch of marines stationed near the end yelling to the runners to ‘Finish strong!’ So I ran.

It isn’t a steep hill. The only real problem I had with the hill is that it was at the end of the race and I was getting a little tired. The hill goes up for about .1 miles, turns to the right and continues going up to the finish. When I got to the turn I heard a voice shot my name. It was Dan, one of my friends who came out to see me. Seeing him there was another great boost. I waved to him, then sprinted to the finish line. Most people went across the finish at about the same pace. Not me. I went as fast as I could. I probably passed more than fifty people in that last straight away. Go me!