My weekend....Part 2....Space Coast Marathon....for Bekazi...

My second marathon of the weekend took me to Cocoa, Florida. After a hurried trip to the airport following marathon #1, and a delayed flight, I finally got in to the hotel about 10pm. This is the first time I have had to really "travel" between marathons when doing a double. And let me tell you, I really missed that nap I usually squeeze in between my doubles! I had hoped to get a little shut eye on the flight, but I forgot about Orlando flights. A good portion of the passengers are usually children (going to/from Disney World) and as you can imagine, it's usually pretty loud. Today was just that, having children myself, I can understand. Still, I missed the nap!

I was running the Space Coast Marathon as part of the marathonpacing.com team and I roomed with Amy, who was pacing the 2:10 half marathon group. With a super early race start, I felt bad getting to the hotel so late. I knew Amy probably wanted to be crawling into bed already.  I know I wanted to be asleep hours ago; I was beyond exhausted. My experience running doubles this year made me feel confident enough to take on the job of pacing for the second half of this weekend, but it also added a lot of stress. With how I felt at that moment, I began to dig holes in my confidence. Was I going to pay the ultimate price the next day? I had runners counting on me to carry them for 26.2 miles of consistent running, God please let me have the strength for the task at hand! I laid out my gear for the morning, said a prayer and got into bed.

As tired as I was, I slept awful. I tossed and turned, I just couldn't get comfortable. Having to be up at 4:15, I really really wanted to get some decent sleep. I didn't even get 5 hours. I don't know what kind of sick habit this is, but for each and every weekend that I've run double marathons this year, I've somehow managed to get  6 or less hours sleep the nights before each race. When the alarm went off, I could hardly drag myself out of bed. I looked far more haggard than I even felt. I knew I was in for an interesting and challenging day. What's the answer to lack of energy, and missed sleep? Coffee! What else?! I turned on the little coffee pot by the sink. I needed all the help I could get!  Amy and I  added some space themed temp tattoos to complete our look. I was hoping they would draw the attention away from the bags under my eyes. Pace signs in hand, we headed out.

Our pace team

It was still pitch black outside, and the area near the start line was lit up with Christmas lights. I brought my headlamp, as I was unsure how dark it would remain once we started. Our pace team took a couple group pictures and then it was time to get in place. I was feeling very out of it still, hoping I'd find the energy to carry myself through for the race. Today it wasn't a matter of what I felt like. I had everyone else counting on me. I suppose in a way I was ready for this. I know, no matter what, every time I step up to the start line, I have to carry through. Quitting is not an option. I have held true to that over the course of this year, and today would be no different. And maybe in that moment I just needed to remember all the hard weeks when I dealt with pain. 

 

Everyone looks way more awake and ready than me!

I got acquainted with my group of runners and we watched a shuttle launch projection on a mega screen by the start line, a count down to our "take off."  As the half and full marathoners ran two different routes, we didn't have a huge group planning to pace with me. It was me and maybe 15 or so, all aiming for a 4:45 finish. Hitting the dark streets we made our way out toward the water, I was full of anticipation what I hoped would be a beautiful sunrise. We got it, and I even managed to get a quick picture. The plan was simple, run consistent, walk through water stops and keep everyone motivated. I got a chance to share with my group about my running journey this year and why I was running. They shared the inspirations behind their run. The energy was high, and everyone had a smile on their face.

I was running on behalf of Bekazi, who is 15 and one of over 2,000 orphans that are being helped through my running this year. Bekazi was abandoned by her parents and now has no one to look after her. As you can see in the picture, she is in her school uniform and heading to school For children like Bekazi, 25:40 works hard to ensure that she has a relative or a neighbor who will take charge of her. There are so many who are abandoned. That is also why 25:40 is anxious to begin to begin work on their pilot after-care program at the Canzibe mission. They are currently in the process of designing a building that will serve as a place for children to come after school for a hot meal, some tutoring, social work services, and a safe place to stay for the afternoon.There are one or two places like this in the Ngqeleni District, but not nearly enough to serve the needs of so many orphans. Once 25:40 gets this program established they plan to copy the process in villages throughout the district with the hope that one day each village will be able to look after its own orphans after school properly. Your donations go to projects like this, and has a huge impact on many lives. I can't tell you how far even a gift of $10 goes for these children!

"Bekazi"

I had several runners doing their first marathon and a couple who were experienced. We came from all different parts of the country, from students to parents, young and old. I had a couple other runners in the group that were taking part in their own charity fundraising through endurance events and it was great to hear about the work they were doing. We stayed strong, and mostly together over the first 8-10 miles. Aside from the runners, the area was quiet. We ran along residential streets, and I suspect most people were still slumbering. If they were up, I'm guessing they looked out their window and thought to themselves, "what on earth are those people doing?" It's funny to think about, but even just a few years ago, that would have been going through my mind if I was looking out the window. I never got why anyone would want to punish themselves that way. Funny how drastic my impressions of running has changed.

Before I knew it we had hit 13 miles. I had been paying close attention to my runners and really didn't take in the scenery. We were running somewhat of an out and back course and I tried to keep us as close as possible to our planned 10:53 pace. I noticed that the temps had jumped quite a bit, the sun now directly overhead. From that point on, some of my runners struggling to keep pace. For me personally, the weather was a drastic shift from my marathon the day before. On Saturday I ran in 35-45 degree temps, with wind. Today it was over 60 when we started, and it was looking to be in the upper 70's for a high. Talk about night and day! I tired to make sure everyone stayed well hydrated and with aid stations every couple miles we made plenty of stops.

One of the best parts about this race was the unique space theme. I saw a few people in costumes, including a double headed alien and the Jetsons. The best was Neytiri from Avatar. This girl had the entire look, including the blue face paint and braids. It had to be uncomfortable to run in, especially with how warm it was, but what a great costume!

Aside from the aid stations there were very few spectators on the course and very few banners/signs. The volunteers and aid stations workers encouraged us along. Keeping with the space them, volunteers were dressed as NASA employees in blue jump suits. Aid stations had different space themes (Star Wars was big).

They also had shuttle launching pictures set up along the course and pictures of earth from outer space, etc. The pasta dinner the night before had been at the Kennedy Space center and I wish I had been able to arrive in time to have gone. I heard it was fantastic, and I saw this photo from the event on the race website. How cool is that?

By mile 18 or so I was down to a good core 5-7 runners at any given time. I could tell that more and more people were struggling with the heat and the fatigue that comes with marathon running. I felt it too. My legs felt sluggish and drained. I knew those running with me were counting on me to motivate and help them along so I did my best. Our group was coming up along walkers on a regular basis by this point, and every now and then I could encourage one to join with us. But by the same token, I was finding more and more people drop off, especially as we went through aid stations. During those last several miles our group was ever changing.

By the time I hit mile 23 or so I was pretty much alone. I stayed the pace and tried to encourage walkers as I came up to them. Most just kept on walking. I heard a lot of "oh crap" as I came up behind people. Apparently they wanted to beat 4:45 and didn't want to get passed by me. I also had my pace sign break on me, twice. The course was nice and flat, but the wind just did more poor sign in. Since I was pacing I didn't get to take as many pictures as I normally would have, but I can't tell you how strange it felt to be running in the sun, with palm trees.

 Alone at mile 24

I met lots of great people on the course, and hoped I was a help to those who ran with me. I crossed the finish line in 4:44:27, alone and waited several minutes for some of the runners who had dropped back the last couple miles. It was great to be the first to congratulate them with a hug or high five! I found myself wanting to lay in the Florida sun for a bit, but it was back to the hotel for a shower and right back to the airport. Fun times! Thankfully my flight home was not delayed, security was far better than expected and I was heading home!

I knew that all the insanity of this weekend would pay off in a few weeks, when I will get to spend Christmas weekend at home with my family. Space Coast was marathon #49 of the year and I'm sure some of you are wondering what I'm planning to do once I hit 52. I've been brainstorming plans for next year and the challenges I will undertake. And as this journey wraps up, I will share more about what lies ahead for 2011. As you may have noticed running doubles has put me ahead of schedule and at this point it looks like I will run marathon #52 at the Jacksonville Bank Marathon in a couple weeks. Having completed 52 in less than 52 weeks, I feel like I can take a load off, and am really really looking forward to enjoying the next weekend (Christmas) at home with my family. I plan to continue with the rest of my scheduled marathons until I hit my original finish date of Jan 15th. I'll just end up with a few more than 52 for the year and I see it as just that many more opportunities to help these orphans.

'How wonderful is it that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

"No one has ever become poor by giving" - quotes by Anne Frank

Please donate! The need is great!