This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Marathon Summary
Sep
25
2014
No photos of the weekend, because I didn’t want to carry a camera with me.
Here are some of my thoughts and observations from my participation in the 2014 Air Force Marathon.
I prefer to say I participated in the marathon, rather than ran in the marathon, because my pace doesn’t qualify as a run. Jog maybe, run no.
- First off, packet pickup is held offsite and the day before the race, in order to simplify logistics on race day. It does do that, but it is complicated by having the 5k race during and at the packet pickup. Marathon, half marathon, and 10k are Saturday at the air force base. The 5k is Friday evening, at the venue where the packet pickup is, and at the main time when all the marathoners are trying to pickup their stuff. If you are going to participate in the AF marathon, be sure to get your packet before 5pm Friday.
- The expo was large and you couldn’t short-circuit it. It’s in an arena, and you can’t just go to the pickup table and get your stuff. You must walk around the entire arena – the entrance and tables are setup such that you must walk past each and every vendor before you get your stuff. I suppose that lets them charge more for the vendor spaces, since the visitors are guaranteed.
- Shuttle buses. Given how bad the parking and traffic were Friday night, I was worried that having every arrive at the expo center for shuttle buses Saturday morning would cause equal congestion. But it didn’t. Must have been the 5k. I had no problem getting on the bus, although it did seem to drop us off about a quarter mile from the start line.
- The starting area was marked well, with flags for various expected finish times to space people out and keep things organized.
A few minutes before the start, they had the big wigs, both from the Air Force and from the sponsors, get up on stage and make the necessary announcements and acknowledgements. They had a microphone, but it was not very effective. Since none of the runners could hear them, no one paid any attention. But then the national anthem started, sung rather well by a female member of the AF. Her voice at least carried well enough to be heard and, being on an active base, everyone respected the song. The flag was shown on the screen, when the screen was not showing the singer. There are some sporting events where people don’t care about the national anthem. This was not one of those.
- The start was interesting, as I was expecting a starting pistol or a horn. What we got instead was more like a cannon blast – a deep, booming starting shot. But at least there was no question about it. Also, I heard they used to do a flyover before the start but, due to budget constraints, there was no flyover this year.
- As far as courses go, it is one of the less-scenic courses. Unless you like pavement and chain-link fences. Because that’s what most of this race seemed to be. And I expected that, based on what I had read.
- The day was nice and sunny, surprisingly warm for the second half of September. But the wind more than made up for that. The wind was fierce. And since the base had a lot of open areas and long straight stretches, we got just about all of the wind.
- Main interesting thing during the race: barefoot guy. Did I mention it was pavement the whole way? And this guy (wearing a white and dark blue jersey with a verse from Isaiah on it) was running barefoot the whole way. I stuck with him and his brother for the first several miles, then they dropped back.
- Since there were not many spectators (an active military base is not open to the public), there were not many signs. But in one of the few spectator areas outside the base, I remember only one sign as being amusing: Seems like a lot of work for a banana.
- The pace team captains were a varied lot. The one I tried to stick near – the 3:55 finish time – was quieter. But the 4:00 finish time lady was not. Her voice carried across most of the base.
Here is a conversation that played out behind me somewhere around mile 1:
4:00 lady: WHERE Y’ALL FROM?
Some female runner: Alabama!
4:00 lady: WOOHOO! ROLL TIDE!
Some female runner: WAR EAGLE!
4:00 lady: ROLL TIDE!
(at this point, I was thinking things could get ugly. But people swallowed their words and were quiet for a bit, after which this happened:)
Some male runner: Michigan. Go blue!
Some other male runner: No, Air Force Go Blue!
at which point several other runners erupted in cheers. - The finish is the longest mile ever. I thought it would never end. The wind didn’t help. I normally have a decent finishing kick. People were cheering at the 1/2 mile-to-go mark, so I tried to pick it up for the last 1/2 mile. But I was spent. I managed a decent kick only for the last 200 yards.
- This is one of the only races I know that hands out pizza slices as part of the post-race food at the finish line. But that was also the slowest part. I had my bagel and banana and water, so I didn’t feel like waiting behind 20 people for pizza. My leg muscles would not have let me stand in line anyway. So I skipped the pizza.
- I am going to have to stick to half marathons or under. My body can’t handle the full marathons. You know those encouraging, inspiring slogans such as You can achieve anything your mind can believe ?
They’re wrong.
My mind believed I could run that marathon in under 4 hours. My leg muscles did not agree. Guess who won the argument?
- Through most of the race, there were signs that said Alert Level: Low. Or maybe it was Threat Level. Either way, runners were not suspicious.
But at the finish line, the signs said Alert Level: Moderate. Apparently spectators are a problem. But at least now my kids have had the experience of being wanded at a checkpoint.
then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.
Genesis 31:23
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 12:09 pm and has been carefully placed in the Sports category.
September 25th, 2014 at 7:58 pm
The fact that you finished is huge. I haven’t even tried to start.
September 26th, 2014 at 2:00 am
Did you use any of my sayings?
And yes, some SNCO will yell at you if you don’t do flag stuff right. If you don’t want to be stuck outside when the song plays, you make sure you don’t leave for your car until 4:32pm.
September 26th, 2014 at 8:28 am
At the finish line, I did ask if I passed my PT.
September 26th, 2014 at 11:55 am
You not only finished, you finished very well!!!!! Great job, T