In 2010 I entered into the Eisenhower Marathon the afternoon before the race at the last possible second and went up there and PR'd on a beautifully cool and crisp morning. This year, I was hoping to do the same, registering for the race on Tuesday of the week of. But you gotta love Kansas weather! This year it was 80+ degrees, humid, extremely windy, and intensely hot all by 10 am on race morning. It hit 90 by afternoon. It really did feel like summer instead of early Spring.
I had hopes of setting another PR but after about 9 miles into the race I just couldn't quite hit my splits and I knew that the heat was only going to get worse so I backed off and tried to just have fun and coast into the finish. I drank at every aid station (just about every mile!) and filled my water bottle 5 times and drained it every time. It's a simple course, mostly on a highway, exposed to all of the elements of sun and wind.
A couple guys I know ran their first marathon there as well so after kind of recovering a bit in the shade and eating some pancakes I went back out on the course and ran with them back in the last little stretch.
The finish line and last mile looked more like a triage area with people collapsing and passing out due to the heat and dehydration. The ambulance went up and down the street staying real busy with marathon customers! I told a race official to call an ambulance for one lady at mile 25.5 because there was no way she could finish (vomiting and couldn't stand on her own two feet). Yikes!
My overall finish place in the Marathon was 37 (of 193) and my age group (males 25-29) finish place was 10 (of 18) and my official time was 3:51:34, which was 8:49/mile. This was my 6th fastest marathon ever but one of the more miserable weather conditions I can remember.
After drinking water and cooling off and eating more food I was just fine with minimal soreness. I ran 8 miles Sunday morning and felt just fine.
