2015 Georgia Half Marathon

For me, except for getting soaking wet from the rain during the race, it was pretty much uneventful.  This was the fourth or fifth time doing this race, so there was really nothing new about the course.  I'm glad I did the race; glad I took advantage of the discount price of ~$47 (paid a very long time ago) compared to what they were charging during normal signup for the half $85/$105/$120.  But to me, there is just really nothing significant about completing number 53.


However, I do know of two people out of the 7000+ people who did either the full or half marathon on this rainy, soggy Sunday morning, whose race was very significant - Antonio and Marsha.  You see for Antonio, this was his first marathon and for Marsha, it was her 200th marathon.  For them, this race was very significant.

Antonio's First

It's a small world.  In my previous post I wrote about getting a special pizza in celebration of our 39th wedding anniversary from Gordo's Pizza.  Well, it was Antonio who made it!  When I was there getting the pizza, I found out Antonio was doing the Georgia Marathon for his first full marathon.   Marathons are hard and when I hear of someone doing one for the first time, it gets my attention.

So in between Antonio making pizzas, we talked about the race and his prep for it.  I could tell he was ready and he was psyched for it!

Although it was still dark and raining our paths crossed in Centennial Olympic Park before the race started and I wished him good luck.

Congratulation Marathon Man Antonio!

Marsha's 200th

I first met Marsha when I did my first marathon - 2011 Soldier Marathon.  She is also a walker and as it typically goes with walkers, we're back of the pack type folks.   That was her 99th marathon.  Well get ready to do the math, this race, the 2015 Georgia Marathon, was her 200th marathon!   Incredible!


I had no idea that Marsha was doing the Georgia Marathon for her 200th.  But having a similar pace, I thought I saw her just ahead of me around mile 7 where the half marathon splits off from the full.  I actually had to speed up to see if it was her - it was.  I shouted out her name and wished her luck.

The picture above is actually from a different race where we crossed paths.  Marsha blogs about her races on bookladywalker.  I also saw a comment she made on FB regarding this mile marker "At least number 200 is in the record book - now on to that 300 mark"!

One other thing, yes she does have much more time to do these races now that she is retired, but did I tell you - she didn't start doing marathon walking until the age of 59!

Congratulations Marsha and good luck with the next 100!!!

2014 Atlanta Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon

Windy.  W I N D Y and cold, hovered around 40 degrees for the entire race with winds 10-20 MPH maybe more at times.

Did the 2014 Atlanta Half Marathon Thanksgiving morning.  What was so very special about this race, my new daughter-in-law, Raney, did it with me and it was her first half marathon!

Raney & me before the race

Up crazy early that morning as I volunteered to help out with crowd control which meant arriving 5:15ish in the Green Lot at Turner Field (Atlanta Brave stadium).  I was a coraller (actually not sure if that is a word) for Wave "E".  With so many doing the race, think just under 8,000 signed up, they needed folks to "coral" them into groups/waves as they would start corrals one at a time.


The best part about getting there at that time - no traffic and plenty of parking spaces.  The other nice things about helping out, they gave volunteers a full-length zipper fleece (thanks Atlanta Track Club!) and, this was the best part, they had Krispy Kreme donuts & coffee!  Yes, I indulged.


I am always amazed at all of these folks who volunteer to help out with the race.  They needed and got 1500 people to volunteer for this race.  My volunteer job was one of the few that you could help out and do the race so it was no big deal for me to get there a bit earlier.  But I am very appreciative of all the others who were willing to come out on this cold, windy morning and help out.

Because I was also doing the race, the team leader assigned me to the front of the corral to be a rope holder.  Yes we actually controlled, corralled, people with ropes.  Although the race actually started at 7:30 with Corral "A", we in Corral "E" were slated for a 7:50 start.  So we made our way behind Corral "D" keeping our distance.

So at 7:50 we were off.  It was great to get moving to generate body heat.  From the starting line for about a mile or so, top layer clothes were thrown over the fences.  One of the things that this race did not have was gear check.  It is not uncommon for races to have gear check so the participants can "check" their top layer and such (for trying to stay warm before the start of the race) and then retrieve it after the race.  Instead this year the Atlanta Track Club was holding a clothing drive so people could discard their additional clothing and the ATC would collect, wash and donate to local shelters.  I liked this idea.


After standing around in the cold for 2+ hours it really did feel good to get moving.  It wasn't too long into mile 1 when I felt a tap on my shoulder.  It was Raney and that was the last I saw of her for the race.


This was my 5th year in a row doing this race since they changed the course.  I do enjoy the course, it's a great way to actually see the City of Atlanta.

As usual with a half marathon, at least for me, miles 1-8 are not so bad, even in cold windy weather.  But once I hit mile 8, mile 9, my attitude about doing the race really changes and not for the good.  It is no longer fun.  It is no longer enjoyable.  It hurts.  I want to stop moving.  I just want it to be over.  Of course the best thing to think about in a race, when it really starts to hurt, especially on Thanksgiving morning is: mash potatoes & gravy, turkey, stuffing, pie,...  Oh I thought about these a lot during those last 4 miles.  That was my real prize and I couldn't wait to get it!


One of the other things I thought about during that last 4 miles, this was my 60th Thanksgiving celebration.  That's a lot of Thanksgiving memories.  That made me feel lucky.  Sometime things just sort of happen, not sure why.  Take a look at what I saw right around the time when I realized this was my 60th Thanksgiving:

Senior Zone

Really?  I guess I'm in the Senior Zone now?  Gee, I wonder if others could see the sign  :)


I was really happy to cross over that finish line, really happy.  Each received a finisher's medal, a top layer (to help keep warm during cool down), water, Powerade, and a box of goodies to eat.  Shortly thereafter Dan & Raney found me.  I was anxious to hear from Raney.  She did great.  She completed her first half marathon!

Post race with Raney donning our finisher medals and freezing!

Oh yeah, later that day, the turkey, mash potatoes, gravy, stuffing,... were fantastic!

2014 Purplestride 5K, for Dad

Got a text from my son Daniel a few days before the race "Interested in doing a 5K in Atlanta on Saturday".  It was late in the evening, well for me anyway, told him to send me the link and I'd check it out in  the morning.


Little did I know the link http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1104342  would take me down a road with so many thoughts about my Dad.  The Atlanta PurpleStride 5K was a fundraising race hosted by the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network which is a network of people dedicated to working together to advance research, support patients and create hope for those affected by pancreatic cancer.  You see,  in 2007 my Dad died, he had pancreatic cancer.


What a great cause.


We gathered early on a cold Saturday morning in Centennial Olympic Park to a sea of purple  ~ PurpleStride 5K ~  11/15/2014.

Daniel listening to the PCAN speakers

Pancreatic cancer is such a tough disease.  The stats on it are scary.  We heard from survivors and from relatives of those who were taken by pancreatic cancer.  The emcee was Carol Sbarge, a local WSB-TV News Anchor.  She told a personal story how her father lost his battle with pancreatic cancer and her mother from another type of cancer all within a year just as they were getting very close to retirement.  It's just sad.  It's unfair.  Her words really hit pretty hard.  We just never really know what is going to happen, or when.


Again, this race and fundraising was a way to fight back at this disease.


The 5K was a low key event much more about fighting the disease than about racing.  We started near Centennial Olympic Park and made our way north near Georgia Tech.  We could tell there was a big game that day (vs. Clemson I think) as many were already tailgating as we made our way through the area.

It was a good race.  For me, I did something in this race that I had not done in a long time, I mixed in some running with my walking.  It's been two years since hurting my knee and giving up running.  It felt good to run again.  I had no negative effects with the knee afterwards.  Who knows, maybe I'll do more of these 5Ks and interject some running.  We'll see.


This was a good cause.  At last count the amount raised from this event -  $303,828.  That's great!


Afterwards, Daniel, Raney, and I headed over to Goldberg's Bagel for a little post race celebration breakfast.  Great bagels there.  Daniel mentioned something about possibly making this an annual event in memory of his Grandpa, my Dad.