Today was the
big day: The Philadelphia Marathon
finally happened. I woke up at the crack
of 5:00 am before the sun had risen and walked downstairs to eat a slice of
bread with peanut butter. I proceeded to
roll out on my foam roller to loosen up my muscles and began stretching. I played some pump up music to wake myself up
and get energized for the run. Not only
was I stretching, but I also drank plenty of watch in order to avoid
dehydration.
Philadelphia Marathon course map (Credit: philadelphiamarathon.com)
At around 6:15,
I left my house and walked over to the Art Museum to the starting line. It was still dark out but there were plenty
of other people making the trek through the cold fall morning to begin the
Marathon. My outfit consisted of my
American flag socks, florescent green shorts, San Francisco Giants t-shirt with
a red, long-sleeve Under Armour shirt underneath, and my gloves. I was a bit chilly, but I knew that I would
warm up once I began running. My
adrenaline began to start pumping as I entered my corral and the first wave of
runners were off and running.
Finally, it was
my corral’s turn to go and the starting horn sounded—my first marathon was
underway! Going on in my mind, I thought
of all the advice I had been given and the course route I had studied and ran
so many times. I made sure to start out
slowly to not use up all of my energy in the beginning of the race. After the first couple of miles, I was
feeling really, really fresh and comfortable.
For several of my runs, there were times I could feel myself tire out
quickly; however, running with a pack of people helped keep me from running too
quickly and kept me going.
Micah running on the Falls Street Bridge during the Philadelphia Marathon
(Photo taken by Island Photography)
The first
highlight of the Marathon was between miles 7 and 8 where I passed through
Drexel’s campus and by the fraternity house.
Many of my fraternity brothers were outside the house cheering for me
and I gave them all high-fives as I passed by.
That was a huge boost for me to continue for the next eighteen-plus
miles I still had left to go. My pace
was still a bit slower than I wanted it to be, but I was conserving myself for
the second thirteen miles down Kelly Drive to Manyunk and back.
Micah finishing the Philadelphia Marathon and receiving a high five from Mayor Michael Nutter (Photo taken by Island Photography)
After passing
the Art Museum (the halfway point), I felt I still had lots left in the
tank. I began to slowly pick up my pace
to where I had ben training…roughly a nine-minute mile pace. Unfortunately, the arch support inserts I
wear in my shoes had slid up in my shoe and I had to take several minutes to
stop and fix them in order to run comfortably for the second half. I did so and felt great for the majority of
the rest of the run. It was not until
about mile twenty-three where I began to feel myself running low on fumes.
Micah after finishing with Philadelphia Skyline (Photo taken by Matt Puzio)
Once I felt
myself getting tired, I began to pick up my pace and let the adrenaline kick in
to take me to the finish. Many fans were
beginning to line up and their energy pushed me through to the end. I ran as fast as I possibly could to
high-five Philadelphia Mayor, Michael Nutter, at the finish line. I finished my first marathon in a time of
4:01, which is right around where I set my goal. While I know I could have broken four hours,
I felt very encouraged by how I ran and am motivated to run more marathons in
the future to improve.
