26.2 - THE MARATHON

HERE WE GO!!!

At 6:00 a.m. our group was loaded onto a yellow school bus and dropped off at the starting point, which was located at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza in downtown Phoenix. It was chilly in the morning, so we took some advice and wore some throw-away clothes, which were purchased in Utah from the D.I.

Me with Walking Coach Diane, Running Coach Josh, and Teammate Liz.

In this photograph you can see the Port-A-Potties in the background and yes, there were L-O-N-G lines.

READY-SET-GO! The race began just as the sun was rising.

Time to get rid of those D.I. clothes! Clothes were thrown to the side of the road all along the route; we were told that at the end of the race the clothes are gathered and given to charity.

BTW: Breakaway/Party Boy pants are awesome!

Coach Josh (on the right) met up with us along the way and ran along side us for part of the race.

Ken - all smiles until my picture taking became annoying.

Mile 13 at a time of 2:33:07.

The heat was really beating down on us. We had trained in 30 degree weather and the 60+ temperatures were not doing us any good running on the flat asphalt.

Mile 20 at a time of 3:55:32.

After mile 20, we found Teammate Raul, who's knees were giving out.

At mile 24, Ken's calves were a knotted-mess; thank goodness for TNT Staff Member (a.k.a. The All-In-One Cheer Squad) Marsha! Marsha gave Ken's calves a rubdown, which allowed him to finish the race.

Me and Marsha! After leaving Marsha, Watty was waiting and encouraged us to move on through the last few miles.

Mile 26 at a time of 5:27:23.

Ok! Now Lets Finish This!

THE HOME STRETCH!
Although the race clock read 5:30:?? when we crossed the finish line, our official finish time was 5:24:05, this is because it took ~6-minutes to cross the starting line at the beginning (with 9,000 participants not everyone can start at the same time).

M-E-D-I-C-!

Me, Team Captain Pat, and Ken.

At the finish we checked in at the TNT tent and had the best peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches in the world.

We would not have made it to the finish without the help, support, encouragement, love, and friendship of our family, friends, coaches, and mentors.

THANK YOU to all that contributed to our success. - Ken & Ginger-