A marathon is 26.2 miles. Let’s just think about that number for a quick second. From Emmetsburg to Estherville is exactly 25 miles. So that means that you could run from Estherville to Emmetsburg and still have to run another mile and a little bit longer. The experience of running a marathon gives you a whole new perspective on life and the trials we all face. This is my marathon experience.
Starting at the beginning, my running career started when I was very young. Past experiences with running have been leading me to this huge moment that has honestly been one of my biggest accomplishments in my entire life. When I was younger, I ran cross country. In middle school, I was in cross country and continued with my running career into high school. This presented its own new set of challenges that I had no intention of facing or dealing with until I was much older.
My junior year in high school I started feeling pain in my left hip. This eventually was enough to cause me to sit out for a couple of weeks and then I finally went and saw a doctor when my hips just were not feeling any better. Both of my hips started to hurt while I was doing physical therapy in the weeks leading up to my doctor’s appointment because I was overcompensating for my other hip hurting. When I got to the doctor’s office they took me in to do some routine x-rays and what they saw was not normal. The doctor told me that I had hip dysplasia, which means that I have a very shallow socket. Hip dysplasia is something that most people would associate with dogs because it’s normal for dogs such as German Shepard’s to have it. Very unlikely that a human will have these types of birth defects and normally when they do they can be solved when someone is at the infant stage in development by wearing a cast to correct these abnormalities. It must have not been caught in my exams because otherwise it would have been fixed.
This was devastating for me. Not only did it ruin my chance at continuing in sports, but I didn’t know if I would ever be able to do the things I wanted to. Being told that not only are your sports being ripped away, but also the fact that you may never be able to have your own children is something that can make or break a person. Being determined though to not let this define who I am as a person was my main goal. I had my surgery roughly four years ago on my left hip to fix some of the cartilage wear and it took me out of my junior year of basketball and my junior and senior seasons of cross country.
Last year on October 21st I ran the IMT Des Moines half marathon. That was one of my crowning achievements because I was told by my doctor that running again would be out of the question. The half marathon took exactly two hours and two minutes. This was such a wonderful experience and it changed my whole perspective on running. Things may hurt for a while, but seeing it through and finding a finish line is always worth it in the end.
This year on October 20th I ran the IMT Des Moines marathon. This event is considered one of the easiest courses to do for your first marathon, but not because of the course. The crowds and the staff are what make this event one of the best marathons to participate in. This year the event had over 1,000 runners participating in the full marathon and the people that I got to meet along the way changed my entire perspective of running.
Raceday
On race day I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to get ready for the race. Eating is very critical before, during, and after a marathon. Waking up was difficult and eating was difficult because normally I would not eat before a run, but knowing that you won’t be able to eat for five-plus hours makes you want to get up and eat. I ate a muffin that had some protein in it because I knew that it would help me get through this run.
The next part of the day was getting to the start line. Getting there early is critical so that runners have time to adjust to the temperature outside, get parked, get stretched, and any other pre-race rituals that runners may have. My family and I got there at 6:45 and the race didn’t start until 8 that morning. Getting to a race this early is very important for most people so they can start to get acclimated to the weather and also just getting to watch the place go from empty to jam-packed so tight is truly a sight to see.
The race started at 8 a.m. and we finally move across the start line. With any race like these, participants line up according to the expected mile pace so I started in the back at about the ten-minute mile pace. This can take up to five minutes for participants just to reach the start line, but once we started going I suddenly realized that I had a long way to go before the finish. This race started and finished at the same spot and a lot of shit was going to go down between the first mile and the 26th mile.
Miles 1-3 were so much of a blur. This race started with the marathoners and the half marathoners together up until the split off at mile 2.5. I was pushing roughly an 8-minute mile pace which was far to fast, but honestly well needed because running is not a big push leading up to marathon week.
Miles 3-9 were some of the toughest miles, physically, I personally have ever run. This entire part was in a residential neighborhood outside of the Drake University community. It was full of hills with barely any cheering and I can honestly say were some of the most diminishing miles. At this point in the race I wasn’t too concerned with my pace, my only thought was that I just had to keep moving. I also experienced my first mid-race bathroom break during these miles and I will say it was probably the least enjoyable part of the race.
Miles 9-13 was so exciting. These miles were when I saw a bunch of people and got to hear some amazing musicians. The cheer zones were amazing and I was able to get some water and stretch. I also met up with some officers who were running in full uniform in honor of fallen Des Moines police officer Sgt. Anthony Beminio. These two officers had also run the day before in Kansas City running the full marathon as well. They were so inspiring and gave me the courage to continue. Also during this set of miles, I was able to meet up with my family about mile 12 and it gave me another surge of confidence. I was halfway done and was able to change my socks and get some water and encouragement that was well-needed.
Miles 13-18 were pretty insignificant. These were miles that honestly were just continuing to stack up. Runners went through a trail that just had no inspiration because it was just us and the trail, but then we finally finished and I saw people. One of the best things about this entire journey was the road course crew. The crew was riding bikes and cheering us on, playing music, giving out candy, handing us kleenex’s, and many other positive things for all of us. I will never forget what one of the ladies said to me. I had told her thank you and that I appreciate her being there for us and she said, “I don’t need any thanks and I am here for you today. Anything you need I will have because you can do this and I want you to finish.” That stuck with me and I will never forget that.
Miles 18-21 were the party miles. These miles were so much fun because we hit the real party cheer zones. One zone was handing out shots of fireball and beer and they were having so much fun. This was also when they were handing out power gels for us, but at this point, I had taken in probably five of these things and was so sick of it. This was also where I made a couple of new friends on the course who were around my age. They were super nice and we found some things in common like how much we had been training or how little we had been training. I also met up with my family at mile 21 again and that was super nice because they gave me the courage to continue going.
Miles 21-25 I made another new friend. She helped me get through these miles because she is used to these types of miles. She had run multiple marathons and ultra-marathons. She gave me the courage to keep going and I was able to hear the course workers giving me the best cheers.
Miles 25-26.2 these were the last couple of miles and they gave me the courage to continue. I was able to see the finish line and was pushing as hard as I could. I honestly thought I couldn’t do this. I knew I had run so much though so I pushed through and finished. My whole body was in pain and I was beaten mentally, but I finished the marathon and I can’t imagine doing anything else.
Call of the Lake 
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