Marathon Bliss!

The Soweto Marathon was AMAZING! My goal was to not stop running, and I accomplished it, even on the evil final 7km of hell, I mean hills. I came in at 4 hrs 14 minutes, and considering all the hills and the altitude change, I'm pretty darn happy about it! I had a reward system for myself consisting of chocolate GUs (basically packets of chocolate frosting) and Lady Gaga, and it worked!

There were around 10,000 of us running, and the vast majority sprinted the first 10km in the excitement and then died. It was tough to watch so many people pass me at first, but I stuck to my slow and steady strategy, and then for the rest of the race, I was passing people like crazy. Weaving in and out of exhausted, sweaty joggers and walkers was actually one of the hardest parts, especially since the Combis (public transportation vans usually driven by psychos) were sometimes trying to do the same thing.

Running through such an important spot of apartheid history was incredible and overwhelming at times. The race took us through all areas of Soweto, including up Vilakazi Street, where Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu have houses. We also ran by the Hector Pieterson memorial which honors the 11-year old boy shot in the Student's Uprising in 1976. The high schoolers in Soweto were trying to passively protest new laws that forced all schools to teach only in Afrikaans, and the chaos resulted in Hector being accidentally shot and killed by police.

On marathon day, the streets were lined with villagers cheering, even as early as 6:30am! Groups of large women in colorful scarves clapped and chanted, "Go lady. Go lady" when I ran by. There were also groups of kids holding out their hands, which I assumed meant they wanted me to high five them. Nope. It turned out they wanted us to give them our Energade sports drink packets. I must have been a huge disappointment for them. However, I was lucky, because even in the middle of the pack, I got enough Energade and water at all the water stations. I had heard rumors that they sometimes run out!

I slowly picked up my pace starting at about 20km, and I died around 35km, which was better than I thought would happen. I kept going though, and I had enough excitement and adrenaline to sprint the last 1km into the stadium. I annoyed all the people around me at the finish line by high-fiving everyone and telling them how excited I was. Then I sat down in the field, and could not stand back up! My thighs were so tight I thought they were going to explode, and my left foot arch was not very happy. Getting in and out of the car at the border patrol stations was PAINFUL. This past week my quads occasionally "gave out" while I was walking in the hospital, but today, a week later, I finally feel like I'm back to normal.

Anyway, I'm totally hooked on marathons now, and I'm in training for the next one (country TBD).

I'm sad to say I don't have any pictures of the race because I didn't have anywhere to keep my camera, but I do have an awesome picture of what awaited us in Gabs. Meet Marlow, Ryan Davis's newest addition and my neighbor!