St. George Marathon 2015 Memories
Thanks to the St. George Marathon website here is a good picture of the start area. On the left hand side of the picture all of the people are trying to get their drop bag to the U-haul truck at the last second. At the start line they have a corral for the hand cycles and wheel chairs, and then a corral for the elite runners and then it is a free for all after that.
Pre-race
I was able to stay the weekend with Paul, my buddy whom I
have been friends with since 1990. It
was great to stay with him and not have to pay an expensive hotel bill. On Friday morning I went to the St. George
temple only to find out that it was closed for cleaning. I walked around the grounds, sat on a bench
and meditated and prayed for a while. It
was peaceful and fulfilling. I went to
the marathon expo in my suit and tie, although I left my suit coat in the
car. I saw Golden Harper there. He is the founder of Altra running shoes and a fellow Orem High Tiger Graduate. I
bought a pair of Altra Paradigm running shoes that he personally outfitted me
with. They were last years model and
hence a year old so I was able to purchase them for a discounted price of
$58. They look a little goofy because
the toe box is extra large to allow the toes to expand upon impact. You get used to their look and they are
comfortable. I also bought three pair of
“feetures” (or something like that) ankle socks, and a pair of Asics running
shorts. I bought the shorts specifically
because they have pockets to put stuff in during the marathon.
Race morning, Paul dropped me off at the bus
loading area. It was great not to worry about having to find parking etc. There was a mega long line to get on the buses since I didn’t get there for the early bird
buses. Eventually this other gal, whom I
had started talking to, and I, melded into the line. Then as we were going forward in the line two
guys got in line right behind us and it turns out that they were the line
leaders for an impromptu line as well. So,
it was just a free for all. Some people
being model citizens and waiting patiently at the end of lines and other
cutting in line at will. Upon arriving
at the start I headed straight to the port-a-pottys. After finishing there I had enough time to go
and give my drop bag to the guys at the U-haul truck which is always a fun
experience at the St. George Marathon. There
are over 7,000 participants at the start line and probably 3,000 of them try to
get their drop bag in the truck in the last fifteen minutes before the start
gun. There is a mob of people with only
about four volunteers taking bags so people just end up launching their drop
bags in the general vicinity of the truck from way far out. The volunteers start out trying to catch the
bags, then they try to dodge the bags, then they just step out of the way
entirely and everyone throws their bags in.
Then I went back to the bathrooms for a second visit just to make sure
that everything was taken care of.
Upon
getting out of the bathrooms, I heard the national anthem so I new we were
ready to get going. I thought I could
muscle my way up to where the 3:15 pacer but quickly realized, this was like a
rock concert and it was shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip standing room early. So I went up the side on the outside of the
chute. There was a line of runners there
about one deep waiting to sneak in on the side instead of waiting at the back. I spoke out loud to no one in specific that I
want to be up there, and maybe I could hop the fence or something. A guy next
to me said “or we can just open the fence” and then proceeded to open up a
panel on the chute gate. I complemented
him on his actions and said a quick thank you.
I think there were probably a few more participants that went through
that opening in the gate behind me as well.
I joined the lemmings heading off the cliff for the next 26.2 miles.
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