Marathon

When I started running a few years ago, I considered ultimately trying a marathon.  At the time, this was more of a life goal, a bucket list item that could take many years to realize.  However, the Jordan Project has given me the opportunity to do many things I hadn’t expected to do either for many years, or at all.  And so it was that I ran my first marathon in Jordan, on April 8th 2011.

Of course, this wasn’t a spur of the moment thing.  After getting accepted to the project and learning that last year’s volunteers ran in the marathon, I was immediately ready to accept the challenge for myself, which left me most of a year to train.  And train I did, from October to April.  Amber and I drew up a training chart (unfortunately she got shin splints along the way and couldn’t finish training with me), and I hit the neighborhood streets rain or shine, through wind and snow…no, wait…actually I’m quite the fair weather runner, so I only wound up running in the rain once.  In fact, most of the goose eggs on my chart are because of bad weather: training outside, through winter, is not ideal, even here.  Running the city streets was a bit intimidating at first (because traffic is different here, to put it simply), and I’m sure the locals got a kick out of watching the crazy American go by again and again; but it seems that we all got used to it after a while.  Running throughout west Amman actually helped me familiarize myself with the city, which comes in quite handy with taxis.  It also helped with my tan – not for vanity, but protection against the desert sun.

Race day arrive without any injuries or incidents on the road and with my confidence peaking.  “LG’s 18th Annual Dead Sea Ultramarathon: Run to the Lowest Point on Earth.”  That’s how it’s billed, and it has options for 50 km (ultra-marathon), 42.2 km (marathon), 21.1 km (half marathon), 10 km (fun run), and 4.2 km (kid’s mini-marathon).  The marathon starts just outside Amman and ends at the tourist beach, just past the hotel district at the Dead Sea.  The first half is nearly all downhill, and you pass a sign along the way indicating sea level, then the last half is almost perfectly flat.  Not only is it the lowest marathon on earth, but also the only one I can think of where you can pass goats, donkeys, and camels on the way.  I arrived at the meeting point late because of a bad taxi, but they were able to take me to the starting point on the half marathon shuttle just in time to stretch and warm up.

After grouping at the starting line, the countdown began.  At zero we set off, followed a few seconds later by the gun (which they must have forgotten about momentarily), which gave us quite a surprise, coming as late as it did.  The runners quickly split into 2 groups, with the faster and more experienced easily outpacing the rest.  I started out slow and at the back of the pack to help with pacing and to give me the opportunity to pass more people, which is a psychological boost.  Shortly after starting it actually began to sprinkle a bit, which wasn’t completely unwelcome, as it pushed back the sun and heat I knew I could expect for later in the day.  There was a long and gradual uphill stretch near the beginning of the race, and because I had trained extensively on the hills around our apartment, I took the opportunity to pass everyone in the slow group.  This put me in between the two groups, where I stayed for the duration of the race, gradually catching and passing others strung out in the middle.  In fact, during the whole race I think there were only one or two runners that passed me and stayed there.  Except, that is, for the supper-fit ultra-marathoners, the fastest of which covered 20 km in the time it took me to cover 12 km; I think about 8 of those passed me altogether, and I caught up to two of those near the end (because of injuries, I'm sure). 

At the 9 km mark

The run went pretty well, all things considered.  Running downhill might save some energy, but it’s way harder on your feet, knees, and back.  From the downhill I got some temporary joint pain and one bloody toenail because of my feet sliding in my shoes.  My worst enemy on the route was the heat down in the valley, which made the last 10 km (6 mile) stretch of the race the worst.  The sun was out, the temperature was somewhere in the 80s °F, and there was no breeze.  This might not be too bad for some, but I don’t sweat much, so I had to use most of the water from the watering stations for dousing instead of drinking.  In order to hold off the possibility of heat stroke in the home stretch, I went into running and walking alternately; I probably walked 2 to 2½ miles of the last 6.  After the 10 km mark, the road was so clogged with the 5000 or so bratty private school kids that were walking the 10 km fun run, that you had to weave around them as you went; also, the crowds reduced the visibility (which had previously been miles) to less than ½ a mile.

Finished

Shortly before the 2 km marker I began running for the last time, and soon passed Amber, who was doing the mini-marathon with some of the kids from our school.  I had seen her when the bus drove by me taking them to their starting line, almost an hour before, so I was kind of surprised.  As I ran past, she told me she thought we were less than a kilometer from the finish so I picked up my pace a bit.  After a couple minutes I realized that she had been a little off, but I was definitely nearing the end, so I didn’t allow myself to stop.  Also, as I came within sight of the finish line, a man I had been neck and neck with during my walk/run period passed me; not wanting to be beaten, I pulled out all the stops and ran to catch up.  We crossed the line almost simultaneously, he on the left and I on the right. 

Smile!

After crossing, I had my tracking chip removed, grabbed an apple to munch and a water to drink, and waited for Amber to catch up.  She and the kids from the YMWA were so excited to see me, and I them; however, by this time I was completely drained, and the rush of excitement could only overcome so much of the deficit.  After some time to rest, I made my way on wobbly knees to the bus and went with the kids to a local restaurant, and then it was back to Amman to start my recovery.

Lasting impressions of my first marathon:

Resting afterward

1. Plan your race and your training ahead of time: have a physical chart for goals and reference, posted in a visible area for motivation; have all your race-day gear planned, tested, and waiting
2. Training can be quite boring and tedious, but its payoff in patience and endurance is easily worth it; don’t go into the race under-trained
3. Avoid stress by getting to the start early, don’t trust others to get you there unless you have no other choice
4. Relax and have a good time at the race, no need to kill yourself crossing the line; unless you are a serious marathoner, your only goal is to finish
5. After you finish, take it easy; be thankful for your health, strength, and ability to persevere; put the extra time you now have back from training to good use