TC Marathon 2009

42 degrees at 7:30 a.m. We could see our breath as we walked outside and got in the car. All those weeks of non-training were not going to help us today. 26.2 miles. You have to finish in under 6 hours in order to be considered an 'official' finisher. After the 6 hours are up, they don't give medals away, t-shirts, and no more photos are taken at the finish line. Our goal was to finish!!

My ENTIRE family was up for this event...no pressure. Presley & Madison got up early to go with us to the metrodome. When we arrived, the lines for the port-a-potties were 40 deep, so we waited. That was the only time I had to go the bathroom for the next 6 hours. While I was waiting in line, I munched on an apple. This will come back in the story later.

It was cold. I was hoping to run in a tank and my capris, but the forecast definitely called for gloves and long sleeves. We made our way down to corral 2, listened to the National Anthem, and waited for the start. We were surrounded by all kinds of people. The one I was most impressed with, an army soldier carrying two full size flags, and a fifty pound pack on his back--for the whole race! I got teared up just looking at him.

It wasn't long until the first wave of people got to go. About 7 minutes later, we too were set free. Some people shot through the start line in a quick pace. We knew better. We stuck to the right side of the street, smiled for photos and waved to my family as we passed. We ran through downtown Minneapolis. A strange change considering those streets are usually packed with cars no matter what time of day you drive down them. There were so many people out cheering us on. Of course, they were wearing winter jackets, hats, gloves, and boots, but they didn't let the cold temperatures stop them! Kevin stopped at the first mile to go the bathroom. I kept running and made my way up toward Walker Art Center, where the first wave of bathroom goers let 'er rip. Men were lined up by the fence, and women were waiting for the port-a-potties. I ran over to the fence to join the men, but not to go the bathroom, to upchuck applesauce. What kind of idiot eats an apple before running? Nasty. At least I got it out of my system early in the race. I kept running until Kevin caught up. I bet I went a mile on my own before he joined me again.

About 3 miles into it, we joined up with the 5:30 pace group. There were close to 50 people running with them, so we ran close to them and it turned out to be a great blessing. The energy of all the people, one super energetic pace leader, and cheers and singing to keep us all breathing. At mile six, I turned to Kevin and said, "We're really going to do this!" He replied, "Well, now that you believe it, we will!" We saw Kevin's friends Paul & Jeni Wojahn at mile 4. We broke away from the pace group around mile 11. My family was waiting at the halfway point to check on our progress, and by the time we saw them, we were still doing surprisingly well. Presley ran down the grass to join us and run with us for a few steps. We reloaded on shot blocks, and away we went. My mom asked how we were doing and I said, "We're doing great. We're going to finish!!! See you at the capitol!!" I think they were all surprised to see us doing so well at that point considering two weeks earlier, I was about dead after 6.2 miles in Worthington.

At 13.2 miles I was setting a new record with each step. I ran Grandma's Half Marathon two years ago in Duluth. That's 13.1 miles. I've never run that far since. In fact, our longest training run/walk for the marathon was 12 miles. We stunk at training. Each mile marker after that put a huge smile on my face. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18...we made our way across the bridge that would get us out of Minneapolis and into St. Paul. 19, 20, 21. My left knee and lower back really started pinching and hurting with about 5 miles to go. Each mile I had to find a patch of grass to lie down in and stretch it out. We'd start running slowly, and it would pinch again. GRR!! Not wanting to do something to damage it, we walked most of the final 4 miles. I wanted to be able to run into the finish line, so we kept stretching it, drinking water, nibbling on our energy supply, until finally we saw the capitol building.

It's a beautiful downhill run to the finish. We pass under a HUGE American flag, and down a fenced in area with spectators cheering on both sides!! We spotted my family right away! They were hard to miss as they were excitedly waving their arms in the air! My mom had a cowbell and was cheering like mad. We felt great (minus my knee). The smiling faces and waving arms of the cheer leading captain, Presley, and her squad made it all worthwhile. They're really the reason I finished. If there was no one there to see this huge moment, I probably would've dropped out of the race way earlier! YAY for family inspiration!

About 100 feet from the finish, we spotted Kevin's dad Dave. He came jumping out and threw his arms up in the air with excitement! My sister (who got all the amazing photos from today--thanks Holly!) got a great shot of this moment as well! We finished right around 5 hours and 33 minutes. Considering we were just hoping to finish, we felt great. As we walked through the finish line, the announcer said, "Amber Marten & Kevin Bergeson!" We did it! The man handing out medals asked me if it was my first marathon. When he heard my reply, he said, "Welcome to the finish line!" What a great feeling! We were immediately wrapped in thermal wraps, and loaded up on some treats. I'm not sure about Kevin, but I was starving! We passed a Chipotle at mile 24 and it was so tempting to bop over there for a fast treat. In retrospect, I'm glad we didn't, my little snacking along the way meant NO VOMIT for the finish of the race!

I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to cheer us on today! Seeing your faces along the way made it all worthwhile! We love you all so much! Following the race, we walked to the car, and bid my family farewell. After soaking in my tub for a few minutes, and a shower. We both napped for 2.5 hours and then treated ourselves to the ultimate supper: CHIPOTLE! We're both stiff as a board. My legs and lower back are killing. I have a big blister on one toe, and will likely lose a toenail on my right foot. Other than that, we got away pretty much injury free for such a long run! Check 'run a marathon' off my bucket list!!