My Marathon: Part II

After about 15 minutes of trudging forward, LA Roadrunners Group 7 hit the official starting line and I activated my Garmin. I was running the Los Angeles Marathon.

The Dodger Stadium start felt familiar after two Roadrunners training sessions plus attending Dodgers games over the years.

What was striking was very quickly Group 7 was totally separated. Normally, we were very good about staying intact, even when lost or running circles. Now, we were totally fractured. I formed a little group with Danny, Pete and James and we set out while trying to find the rest of Lucky 7. Another striking moment was seeing a runner already down on her back getting medical aid ... and we had barely even begun let alone left the stadium! Still, we passed Mile 1 on the loop and a half and headed towards the Elysian Park exit. As we reached Sunset, the normal Dodgers billboards had been changed to say "Good Luck" to the marathoners from the Dodgers. Nice!

Our little group was cruising along at about a 10:50 pace. One problem was just the sheer volume of human traffic. The self-regulating pace placement idea seems to have been considered optional and a lot of time and extra steps were used in going around walkers and very slow runners. Sometimes, people were holding hands, creating a very tempting Red Rover situation. By Mile 2, my Garmin was already saying we had run .2 miles extra.

At this point it was difficult to even keep or small group together, particularly at water stops. Still, we managed and did things like the Roadrunners chant. We also started passing landmarks like the gate to Chinatown and La Placita.

Next came Downtown Los Angeles. There were also some hills ... big hills. It is amazing turning a corner seeing a sizable hill swarming with people. The traffic made it difficult to keep momentum going and thus made the hills harder. We passed the Cathedral as well as City Hall and other downtown buildings.

Then, it was into the Sunset and Echo Park area. Here, I began to struggle some. My knee was beginning to get sore. It also made it harder to keep with the group whenever we split in traffic. The sprinting and frantic searching took a toll. Eventually, I realized this was not going to work well. Soon enough, it did not at all ... all the time I had been used to a group for long runs. Now, I was actually on the longest run and it was quite different. I was running alone amidst 25,000 runners.