We're back home from Springfield, MO just north of Branson. The good news is Rianman did it...he finished with an unofficial time of 4:24. We're hoping the official time will show 4:22 which is a 10 minute mile...his goal. As usual his goal is to always finish feeling good and he felt good at the end.
Here's the best part...check out that medal!
Packet Pickup
The Bass Pro Shop Conservation Marathon is only 2 years old and we were impressed. We arrived Saturday afternoon with our friends Marcus and Christy after a 2.5 hour drive. After checking into our respective hotels both a short walk to the Bass Pro Shop, we went to packet pick up. We pulled into the lot and were were amazed by the size of this Bass Pro Shop. I've seen them before but this was about double the size of a regular one. It held several conference centers with catering facilities in addition to the store, a Starbucks, a museum, and an aquarium! Unreal!
After pickup which included a nice New Balance long sleeve tech tee, we drove over to check out the local football stadium that at 6pm was going to open its doors to an Obama rally. We all thought, "This is Springfield, how many could be here." Well holy cow...there were a ton of people already. We decided we would eat dinner first. We drove across town (3 miles) to one of a gazillion Japanese restaurants for such a small city. We had a terrific dinner of sushi in a restaurant that could easily have been in Chicago. Very hip and cool. What kind of town is Springfield?
Obama Rally
Anyway, after dinner around 7 pm, Rianman drove us back to the hotel, just half a mile to the stadium. Marcus, Chrsity and I went to the Obama rally while Rian stayed in to rest. It was a good idea because we didn't get back from the rally till 10:15 and we stood the whole time. The rally was amazing. There were about 40,000 people in a part of Springfield that is generally pretty Red. Both Michelle and Barack spoke. And when he finished, we made our way back to the hotel to a sleeping Rianman.
Sunday Morning
With the "Fall Back" we benefited from the extra hour of sleep. Rianman woke at 4:30 to eat a little food, then fell back to sleep. The nice thing about a marathon is the little prep needed. In a triathlon you have to get to the transition to set everything up but with a marathon you just get dressed and walk over to the starting area. Of course it is never that easy for Rianman. He had to make his Perpetuem leaving the hotel room sink a mess. He then weighed himself down with three filled bottles in his Fuelbelt along with Gu packets and some AntiFatigue and Endurolyte pills. He also took 1 pill of a 2 pill dose of DayQuil because he (and I) are sick and although I'm much worse off, he was starting to feel pretty bad last night.
We're still not sure how many people ran the marathon but we saw bibs in the 500s. The half-marathon started at the same time, 7 am. There probably weren't more than 2000 people. As the runners started, the three of us took to the car to head over to a great point at mile 6 and 11. We got there with plenty of time to cheer on many runners and see the lead male fly past us at mile 11. Rianman got to us and he was looking good running a sub-10 which was great. This is him coming toward us.
After he passed us coming back around a loop, we took off...to McDonalds for some breakfast. We ate in and after a short visit, we took off to mile 17 where we could see him twice (out and back point). We got there with only about 10 minutes to spare...maybe too much time at Mickey D's??
Marcus ran with Rianman and both looked good (Marcus wasn't running this marathon). He will still at a sub-10 but that would change. We decided after he passed that if waited to see him come back we would get to the finish in time so we decided to head back to the finish. We just missed seeing the winner finish under 3 hours but we did see the first female and of course the remaining runners till Rianman came by around 11:24 as we cheered him on. It was great to see him look so good at the end. When we met him at the finish with his finishers cap and medal, he was beat but pretty good. Marcus was good about walking with Rianman to get him to keep moving and prevent the lactic acid buildup.
We ended up going to the Finisher's party where they had beer, soda, wine, fruit, eggs, and biscuits and gravy not only for participants but friends and family!!! When do you see that ever??? Food for the family too? WOW. Bass Pro Shops put some money into this race.
We took some photos and then were on our way...Rianman to a shower and then we were off to Lamberts Cafe near Branson...home of the "Throwed Rolls" where they throw hot rolls to waiting patrons. Fun comfort food!
All in all a great first marathon weekend. Thanks to Marcus and Christy for coming along...they really made it so much more of an event. Not just any event...his first marathon and the last event of 2008. Woo hoo...vacation here we come!!!
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