Flying Pig Marathon 07- The Early Miles

The loud boom went off and we jogged to the start line. It was super crowded but I kept the 3:30 balloons in my sights as I made my way across the start line on the right. W was off and running ahead of the group so I just tried to stay as close as I could to my pace guys while avoiding all the elbows around me. Gotta love being at most male runners elbow height! I laughed as we crossed the start as they were playing some hip hop song from the 80s. "Jump on it" By Sir Mix-a-lot.

"What's up Cleveland, what's up
What's up Cincinnati, what's up
Columbus jump on it, jump on it, jump on it " (Thanks Josh!)

Pace felt easy as we rolled up the first bridge into Kentucky and crossed mile 1 in 8:22.03. A little slow but I had faith the men with the balloons would get us back on track long before 9 miles when I planned on peeling away from them. I couldn't believe how many people were in this group. Not just men either, plenty of women all who seemed to be running the full. Past marathons I have been in it seemed to be the 3:40 crowd that was really heavy and ahead of that was a wasteland so I was a bit surprised to be dealing with such a crowded course.

I slowed a bit to get Gatorade at the first stop. I had decided pre-race there would be no walking the water stops this time through. The crowds were thick though and you couldn't avoid a bit of a slow down. The second mile came in 7:53 and I began to feel more confident that our pacers would keep me on pace through the hills.

I didn't really absorb much of the crowds as we made our way back into Ohio. I stayed focused on the runners around me and sticking close to the 3:30 group without being too crowded. As we headed up another bridge Mile 3 came in 7:51 and I was feeling good. I never saw mile 4 and although I never glanced at my watch until the mile 5 marker I knew I had missed it. The crowds before turning off of third street before mile 5 were nice and loud. I didn't notice any signs or anything but the loud cheers were a nice early boost. Mile 4 and 5 came by in 15:34. Rootsrunner had recommended I not worry about mile splits but instead look at the totals at 5 and 10 to know if I was on pace. We hit 5 at 39:41, 19 seconds ahead of 3:30 pace which was fine by me.

I laughed as I watched one of the 3:30 pacers hand off the balloons to go take care of business behind a bridge support. I had avoided pre race hydration just so I wouldn't have that issue this time around. I had hydrated well all week and I figured I had plenty of time to hydrate on the course, and was doing great drinking the Gatorade at every stop. Columbus I ran a 3:27 and was aiming for 3:25. I had a 2 minute porta potty stop at mile 12 that day and did not want a repeat this time around.

At 5 I prepared myself for the hills to come, remembering last year how I had spotted BB here and ran up the hills with her before heading back down to catch DM and run her up, and then spotted Rae and Brent at the top and ran up even further with them. I felt confident the hills would not be an issue and was glad for my race strategy of going out with the 3:30 guys to ensure that.