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Published: August 8th 2007
ING Georgia Marathon
Courtesy of www.inggeorgiamarathon.comI hardly can recall on how a marathon would do such harm to your body from my past Marine Corps Marathon, which took place six months ago (see
Semper Fi, Marathoners!). A hostile reminder, however, was inevitably after completing another 26.2 mile course, noticeably when you were wobbling around the finishers ground, while your now stiffen legs, strained back muscle, shoulders and forearms were screaming in agony after a couple of hours worth of strenuous exercise, and trying to reach the snack table to nourish back your body and replace some nutrient loss with big heaps of fruits, water, yoghurt, cookies, bagels and some sweet goodies.
Remind you, I’m only in my late twenties but I felt closer to a geriatric body of an eighty year old by only four hours of a morning run.
ING has organized such prominent marathons in New York City, Chicago, and Miami to name a few, and now has chosen my humble town of Atlanta to be added to the world class destinations for elite marathoners. It was an honor for us to be selected as one of the hosts for such prestigious sporting event,
Coke sign
Only in Atlanta, the birthplace of Coke. and from what I’ve read, the ING Georgia Marathon has brought in more than $21 million in revenues to the local economy.
It was obvious that Atlanta distinct itself from the rest of ING Marathoner host cities; Atlanta’s charms as the birthplace of Coca-Cola, Mitchell’s ‘Gone with the Wind’, the Deep South, home of the Braves and Delta Airlines, and the continent’s biggest indoor aquarium, has attracted some 15,000 runners from all fifty states across the Union, District of Columbia and 28 countries, to sign up for the inaugural Marathon.
See the official
ING Georgia Marathon website.
It started out way too early in the morning for my internal clock; my body was still in its deep slumber as I crawled out of my comfortable bed around 4:45 am. By now I figured out that this would be a marathon-day routine of which I would follow for the rest of my life. I forced myself to munch on a banana and a cup of yoghurt, drank plenty of water, and then dressed myself up with the prearranged running gears from the night before: Nike dry-fit shirt, runner’s shorts, socks, my metallic orange Asics Nimbus running shoes, and the vital
Marathon Route
The ING Georgia Marathon 2007 route, courtesy of www.inggeorgiamarathon.com BIB numbers.
Luckily this was just a home race, and I opted to drive to the nearby Lindbergh MARTA station which only takes about five minutes from where I live, and parked my Jeep at the free daily parking Garson garage. Entering the train station, I was surprised to see Abby and her fiancé Mitch waiting for the train ride. It was a slim chance of spotting somebody you know among thousands of runners and spectators, but without any prearranged plan we managed to meet up and then proceeded to Five Points MARTA stop in Underground Atlanta where the marathon (and half marathon) starting point would be.
It was still pitch dark under Atlanta dawn, and I found three of us standing in midst of other 13,500 plus runners in the street, waiting for the race to start in a matter of minutes. A gigantic Coca-Cola neon sign mounted on top of a nearby building became our main light source, and news helicopters were flying up above, producing a familiar buzzing lullaby that was echoing though Atlanta streets and skylines.
It hit me when a performer finished her ‘Star Spangled Banner’ that we were about to make
Starting line
It was still dark when we started the marathon. Courtesy of www.inggeorgiamarathon.com an important mile stone in our lives, the very first marathon for many virgin runners and another marathon for me. About 40% of the runners were doing the full 26.2 miles (42km) marathon, and the rest of half 13.1 miles (21km) marathon.
The official wheel chair race and seeded runners started at 7:00 sharp. Thirteen minutes later, it was finally my turn to run across the scanning mat that registered my official starting time from the secured timing chip on my left running shoe. The full marathon route shared its first three and a half miles with the Half-Marathoners before finally split off in downtown Decatur. As we were passing through this picturesque homey neighborhood, we were running by some gorgeous Victorian architectural houses and churches, of which some had organized a group of gospel singers, wearing their deep purple robes singing in stage for us, while praising the Lord at the same time, southern style. Many Yankees were amazed on how unique this marathon was, and I could hear some of them were making positive comments to each other.
Welcome to the Deep South, y’all!
Ah, those ‘yawl’ sound. Along the streets, local spectators were lined
Halef, Mitch and Abby
Before the marathon. Courtesy of www.inggeorgiamarathon.com up and cheering for us, with some familiar southern accent in my ears: ‘Hanging there, y’all’ and ‘y’all can do it!’, y'all this and y'all that, while some familiar ringing of cow bells, remnants of my Marine Corps Marathon experience, could be heard throughout the course.
By eight in the morning as the sun shined innocently, we were approaching mile 7 or 8 and started seeing some horrific images of thick yellow/neon green sheet of powdery substance that blanketed visible cars and pavement, everywhere. It came to our realizations that these hundred year old trees and thick vegetation that served as a bless by providing shades and pleasant woody scenery of the Deep South also counter-served as a blight, as they released many ripen powdery pollen to the air around this time of the year. As we inhaled deeply this naturally polluted air, we were reminded that we also invited these atomic molecules into our systems that could cause some serious endemic allergies.
The ING Georgia Marathon was definitely different from my first Marine Corps Marathon. With no visible military presence, its unripe history and more commerce oriented, the ING Georgia Marathon felt less formal, friendlier and more
Run, Halef, run
Concentrating during the marathon. Courtesy of www.inggeorgiamarathon.com chaotic with more of family friendly event. More runners were doing it for 'fun' instead of trying to beat their old PR (=Personal Record), as in Marine Corps. With no time goal in mind, I was running it without any pressure and enjoying what the Marathon had to offer.
Our first names were printed in front of our tag, along with individual BIB numbers without my realization at first. This could be either an advantage or disadvantage for runners, as the spectators along the course would read out your names as they were cheering for you based on the displayed names. It was obviously a moral support to hear ‘Go Michael!’ or ‘Looking good, Rachel’ if you have a relatively common name such as Michael or Rachel and that made you keep going. But unfortunately due to my difficult-to-read name, people would start cheer for me and stop abruptly after seeing my name, and proceeded with my number instead. So it was more like ‘You can do it …
Hey-leef? Gosh I cannot see his name, but I meant hey you 1-1-8-4!!! Whoo-hoo’. Great, then I was obligated to smirk while trying to catch my breath at the same
Atlanta skylines
Running with Atlanta skylines as a backdrop. Courtesy of www.inggeorgiamarathon.com time.
There were numerous signs that kept runners entertained. Some of the most distinguished ones were ‘Run like you stole something’ and ‘I hate running, but you don’t, so keep running’.
We were flying by several neighborhoods, from Decatur to Emory University campus, and by the time I reached mile 17, I could feel tensed muscles formed in my deep tissue. Briarcliff and Moreland Avenue could be a beautiful stretch of running course, but with the nature of sharing the road with idle running cars and lack of shades under now heated Atlanta mid day, the terrain was very remarkable for its toxic fume from vehicular combustion.
The subsequent course of torturous Carter Center was memorable for me as Atlanta’s temperature climbed up steadily as the day progressed. As I learned later on, today’s 87 degrees was the highest ever recorded temperature in Atlanta for March 25, breaking the 86 degrees record back in 1929. Although the temperature might not sound too bad, reaching mile 20 at this point at the end of a boring stretch of concrete wall and asphalt road without any vegetation cover was not enjoyable, especially with seeing the course continuation on the
Rock on!
ING Georgia Marathon deserves devils horn. Courtesy of www.inggeorgiamarathon.com other side of the road, with invisible turning hairpin point somewhere in the horizon.
If I had to mention in what area I made a progress of from my past marathon, I would have to say that it was the mileage of my ‘running crash’. I had been able to run continuously until I reached mile 21 in the Marine Corps before started to cramp up, but this time I was running continuously up until mile 23 prior to entering my favorite course of Piedmont Park before I made a mistake by starting to walk and stretch out. I’ve told myself over and over again before and during the race, that once I started to walk, I would not be able to pick back up my original running pace. And that was the case; I couldn’t start to run again to fulfill my ‘negative split’ (running the second half of my race faster than my first half).
Dayum, and I was ready to be over with any type of exercising by now.
Consuming my last two chocolate Cliff Shots given at the gel station a few miles back, I ignored my screaming body by pushing it hard
Finishing my marathon
At the finish line. Courtesy of www.inggeorgiamarathon.com to finish up the race, while tried to convince some other runners (and myself) to do the same, as it was now mile 25 where many runners were spent out and some literally started to crawl to the finish line. I approached a guy in his late twenties that was walking from exhaustion, and encouraged him to finish strong. His response was great, as he started to run again with me: ‘That’s what I need man’, he said, 'Encouragement to finish this $%!e(MISSING)r'. We ran together for about one mile, and as I refocused myself on the now visible finish line, I lost his track.
So finally the race was over, and I settle down with 4hr11min to complete the whole 26.2 miles. And while nursing my soreness a couple hours later at home, I was wondering on how I became a runner.
Complete result of my 2007 ING Georgia Marathon Start 7:06:53 AM
10K 56:50
Half 1:56:18
20Mile 3:00:18
FINISH 4:11:02
Chip Time: 4:11:02
Clock 4:14:14
Pace 9:34
Place Overall 1234
Gender 960
Division 175
Please check out more pictures that will be added later on, once I purchase those overpriced pictures
Blanket
A warmer blanket given to each participant of myself.
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Arleen Faeth
non-member comment
Hello from Ames
Halef, I do enjoy following your journeys. I've kept travel journals, but nothing like your blog - with photos intersperced, color - you are terrific! Thank you for keeping me on the list. I did send your latest blog link to Michael Martin because he's the LA runner. Arleen