The weekend of the race was extremely emotional. I didn’t know whether to feel frightened at the huge physical challenge that lay in front of me, proud to be facing it or sad to be finishing it.
I suppose I felt it all.
My dad traveled with me to cheer me on. He came with posters designed to motivate me along the race. Unable to make the trip to San Francisco, my mother and sister arranged a phone tree of friends and family members to call me throughout the race. My cousin,Wendy, who lives in San Francisco, gave me a care package with a beautiful necklace that said, “I believe.”
The race began at 5:30 a.m.
We walked through Fisherman’s Wharf, along Crissy Field and next to the Golden Gate Bridge, through some beautiful San Francisco neighborhoods, down to the beach, through Golden Gate Park, along the Great Highway, around Lake Merced and back up the Great Highway to the Finish Line.
26.2 miles.
The race theme was “Run like a girl.” There were fabulous signs along the race path:
• Celebrate like a girl.
• Overcome like a girl.
• Endure like a girl.
• Kiss like a girl.
• Give like a girl.
• I’ll prove them wrong.
• Skinny jeans ahead.
• This is your road because you gave up sleeping late on weekends.
• Remember the god of victory was actually a goddess.
Manuel told me and Dolores around mile 18 that mental fortitude was the key. He told us to push away all negative thoughts and replace them with the positive. That was harder than you can imagine.
At mile 21 or so, I reached my “bite me” phase. Dolores laughed at me when I asked a few of the women on the course to stop talking about bacon. I think deep down she cheered for me when I yelled “Shut up!” to a car passing by who told me we were almost finished when we still had at least four or five miles left to go.
The last three or four miles on the Great Highway were torture. My legs hurt, my feet ached and my back was killing me. I was out of energy.
It took four people to walk me to the Finish Line.
My mother’s friend Kathy, a Dallas coach, joined me around mile 23. She asked me questions to keep my mind off the pain. She told me how proud my mother would be of me. Liesel joined me next. Walking with Liesel, as I had all season, was a huge comfort. Dee had already finished the half. She joined me to keep my spirits up. One mile away from the Finish Line, Dad walked with me too.
I didn’t think I could finish.
My friends kept telling me I was so close. I told them the Finish Line was too far.
About 25 feet from the Finish Line, race officials keep those who are not actually participating in the race from continuing. I didn’t expect that. I remember looking back at Liesel as she jumped and cheered with arms flailing, “You’ve got this, girl! Go! This is your moment!”
Dad tried to follow me along the sidelines with his video camera. I remember seeing Meredith’s smiling face cheering me on.
And then I finished.
I cannot explain the tremendous sense of satisfaction I felt. This is the biggest, hardest personal goal I have ever achieved. I will never be the same.
But after all was said and done, it was something the night before the race that I believe best summed up my marathon experience. At the TNT inspiration dinner, one team of women wore T-shirts that said:
The woman who started is not the woman who finished.
I couldn’t agree more.
