Even at the starting line my hopes were deflated when I saw a Kenyan warming up and realized that the race would likely be for second. For the first six miles I actually did lead the race, and I felt like I was holding back considerably. When the Kenyan, Richard Chelino, passed by me I thought of trying to stick with him but I knew it would not be sustainable... actually, the more honest answer is I did try to stick with him, but it only lasted a couple minutes. He was a very nice guy besides the fact that I felt like he was crashing the party.
I stayed in second place until about mile 14 when a guy named Jason Howe caught up to me. I ran with him for a couple miles and then he took off. At about mile nineteen I noticed I was really sucking wind. It was so odd because I didn't think I should be. I could have been dehydrated because of the record heat, it could have been some lingering effects of bronchitis, it could have just been my lack of quality training, or maybe a combination of all these factors. I simply started going slower and slower. I honestly don't think I have ever felt like walking so much than I did on the last four miles of this race.
Somehow the group of runners that should have passed me by also died pretty hard and I at least squeaked into the top three. I am really not looking forward to doing another marathon, but I will have to do at least one more for redemption's sake.
Despite not running as fast as I would have liked, the experience was phenomenal. My two sisters came from out of state to run the marathon with me and my wife did the 10k!
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