100 Day Challenge: Weekly Adventure Destination #3: Volunteering at the Austin Marathon

Here is another weekly adventure that I am late in posting about (forgive me, I'm now on Oklahoma time).

I didn't run the Austin Marathon this year, giving my joints a little time off, but I did volunteer. I handed out medals to the marathon finishers after they crossed the finish line. This may not count as a "weekly adventure" since I have technically been there before, but not on the other side, as a volunteer. Since I'm making up all the rules for this challenge, I also get to break them, so this one totally counts! And holding 25 medals on your arm and being on your feet for 4 hours is actually a workout!

I've crossed the finish line on two marathons so far, and it took me HOURS to suffer through them both, but you can bet I will attempt a few more in the years to come, especially after watching so many people complete this feat. The coolest part about volunteering was that I watched the winners sprint their way across the finish line. The men's champion Keith Pierce, finished in 2:29:25 (average pace 5:42/mile) and the women's champion, Desiree Ficker, in 2:50:35 (average pace 6:31/mile). I can barely finish a half marathon in that time! After the elite finished, the super fast came in under 3 hours, the really fast in under 3:30, the oh-my-god-I-just-qualified-for-Boston in under 3:40, the oh-shit-I-didn't-qualify-for-Boston in over 3:41, the masses started around the 4 hour mark and then the rest trickled in, after I my shift was over.

When I ran the Austin Marathon in 2009 and 2010, I was in the post-5 hours group, alternating between jogging, walking and practically crawling. I was definitely in pain as I crossed the finish line, but the joy of finally being done drowned everything else out; I definitely had tears in my eyes as I took my medal from a kind volunteer. At this year's finish line I saw tears, vomit, bloody nipples (mostly men), sweat, elation, joy, pain, crippling pain, laughter, grimaces and many big smiles. Marathons are not a spectator sport. There is nothing that compares to actually completing 26.2 miles on your own two feet after months of preparations and training. I missed that feeling this year, but lived vicariously for a few hours through those awesome athletes who ran the Austin Marathon on the warm and humid morning of February 20th.

I didn't take too many photos, since I was busy sorting and handing out the medals, but here are a few...