Finished marathon

The first 15 miles were great, I felt fantastic, hitting around 8:30 minute mile pace .......... but then I died. The earlier climbs and a killer over the top of a flippin huge mountain at 23 miles wiped me out. I was resigned to a slow overall time and was now aiming just to finish. The weather was terrible, wind and rain, but ever onwards.


At about 24 miles a women 100 meters in front of me suddenly stopped and started shouting, grasping her leg. Cramp!!! I stopped to help her, much to the relief of fellow competitors, but I was not racing for a time just to finish. She had cramp in both legs. She moved to the ground and I lifted both legs up in the air pushing them against my chest, as I rubbed her calves. I walked with her for a couple of minutes and left her walking slowly but determined to finish.


I crossed the finish line and was not too disappointed with my time, considering the weather and hills. Its certainly sparked me on to do another marathon soon, but this time, a marathon without any mountains.