Dallas Marathon Half: Celebrate Every Finish

The second weekend in December is Dallas Marathon Weekend and it will always hold a sentimental place in my heart.  I've run the half marathon every year since 2008 except with the exception of two years. In 2011, I became a marathoner when I ran the full 26.2 miles and 2013 the race was cancelled due to Icepocalypse.  However, the race has been a fixture in our lives for even longer as Erik has donned a dress and...ahem...enhancements...to "man" the Dolly Parton hills on the marathon course since 2002, long before either of us imagined that we would one day take part in the event as runners. It was also Erik's first marathon in 2008.

It is one of my favorite days in one of my favorite cities.  After years of experimenting with different start lines and course variations, I feel like this race is finally coming into its own.  The new start/finish line in the shadow of Dallas City Hall, with views of Reunion Tower and the Omni, just seems "right." I cannot speak for the marathon course, but the half covers everything from Highland Park to Deep Ellum and is challenging with the first nine miles climbing steadily uphill the entire way.

The weather always seems to be a story in this race too.  I have run in everything from 70 degrees and high humidity to temperatures in the 30s with beautiful sunshine to 40 degrees and pouring rain (that one makes for a great first marathon story!).  The forecast leading into the weekend was promising, but it ended up being around 60 degrees, foggy, and very humid for the 8:30 start (what is up with an 8:30 start for a marathon?) and it got even more challenging when the fog burned off and the sun came out mid-race.  I really felt for the marathon and ultra marathon runners who started in later corrals.

When I signed up for this race earlier in the year, my plan was to have done some solid speedwork so that I could run a fast-ish race.  Life happens and little quirky, quasi injury things happen and that speedwork just didn't happen.  I have also been focused more on learning to be a better trail runner as I prepare for Black Canyon 60K in February, my first ultra. I was in the middle of building miles and would not be going in with rested legs. I also knew going in that I was not trained for a fast road half marathon so I was prepared to get some miles and have some fun.

As I stood in the starting corral, watching the runners around me and listening to the announcers, I felt overwhelmed with gratitude that I have the ability and the means to run 13.1 miles because it sounded like fun.  Good health and good fortunate are no guarantees and I never take a start or finish line for granted. I'm also very grateful for this race each year because it benefits Texas Scottish Rite Hospital, which is an amazing children's hospital that serves patients who have complex orthopedic needs and neurologic disorders. They treat all patients regardless of the family's ability to pay and they serve many of the students that I work with day in and day out.

After a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, we were off and running.  One of the local television stations covers this race every year and I've managed to be a face in the crowd a couple of times so I always look for the cameras and wave.  When I spotted them I gave a smile and a big wave and I found out later I made the coverage again. It is the little things, y'all.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about the race itself.  I tried to set a steady pace and hang with it as long as I could.  I saw friends in the crowd along the way, including Santa Stude and Amy C. near Turtle Creek.  I always look forward to seeing the Lake Grapevine Runners and Walkers at the water stop near mile 7.  While there, I found myself in a conversation with Steve, who I usually only see during summer sunrise swims, then I suddenly remembered that this was a race after all.  Back to work!

My friend Jesse zoomed around me around mile 9 and asked if I was having a good race. He was moving so fast that I didn't see him again after that. I began to get tired of it all around mile 11, which was not surprising because I had not run that long at one time on the road since earlier in November.  The sun was fully out now and I noticed that my pigtails were so soaked that they were throwing sweat, good thing no one was next to me...eww.

It is almost a straight shot back to Downtown after passing through Deep Ellum and I caught a glimpse of Reunion Tower every now and again. I forgot to bring any nutrition and I was hoping to find some gels on the course, but there were none. One of my lessons from Ironman Wisconsin was that I need to take in calories on the run, looks like I have not learned my lesson well.  This is an area that I will be focusing on as I continue to train for my ultra.

The last couple of miles always take forever, but at long last I made it to the finish line.  I smiled as I took it all in and celebrated another finish.  It was a tough day with the high humidity and warm weather, but any day I can run 13.1 miles through a city I love and cross another finish line is a day worth celebrating. As I progressed through the finisher's chute I was handed a medal, a bottle of water, tamales, other random snacks, and a finisher's shirt.  Pretty sure that is the first time I've ever been given a finish line tamale and I hope that this is a practice that the Dallas Marathon keeps. I would run another 13 miles for a good tamale.

The sunshine and blue skies were the perfect backdrop for all of the post race celebrations. I took a moment to reflect back on the last twelve months. It was during this race last year that my plantar fascia rudely tapped me on the shoulder and told me that we needed to have a talk.  The beginning of 2019 was frustrating and there were days when I couldn't run a step, but I got through it and I grew as a runner in the process. As I reflected back on the race, I had a moment of panic wondering how I would be able to run 37 miles when 13 seemed like such a challenge.  But then I reminded myself that is what training is for and I have been working hard to prepare for Black Canyon 60K ever since.  I've been building miles weekly and training is going quite well.

So there you have it, another Dallas Marathon Half is in the books.  It was the perfect way to wrap up another year of running adventures.  Here's to a great 2020!