![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/IMG_4826.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAnd in my defense this is what is listed on the marathon\u2019s FAQ webpage:<\/p>\n
On the 30 minute or so bus ride to the start, this white-haired, grizzled man was chatting with a 20-something woman next to him.\u00a0 He was saying that the last time he ran this race was in 1975 and it was a “real quad burner,” warning the woman that “this is gonna hurt.. Big Time.”\u00a0 The woman said what I would have said, “After 43 years, you still remember the pain from the run?!\u00a0 That’s… a little worrying.”\u00a0 He laughed it off saying he’d run 70 some marathons and it had taken him that long to come back.\u00a0 I could tell he was only making her more nervous.\u00a0 I wanted to say, “Oh, 70 marathons?\u00a0 That’s cute.\u00a0 This is number 397 for me.\u00a0 Tell you what, junior, my quads hurt now but so what?\u00a0 And ma’am, you’ll do great.\u00a0 One step at a time, and after a lot of steps you’ll be done.\u00a0 But take it one step, one footfall, one moment at a time and don’t worry about it.\u00a0 We’re all in this together.”\u00a0 But I didn’t.\u00a0 I kept my mouth shut.\u00a0 I hope she did okay.<\/p>\n Spoiler Alert: Despite the pain (more on this in a moment), I did.. okay.\u00a0 Yeah, yeah.\u00a0 It hurt the quads… or maybe my legs were already screaming out in pain and this was just one more straw on the camel’s back, ya know what I mean?\u00a0 But I did it. \u00a0And that\u2019s that.<\/em><\/p>\n Anyhoo, even on this \u201clast bus,\u201d we got to the starting line with 50 minutes to kill before the race started. So although I was late, I really didn’t miss anything. Maybe this is why so many folks shrug off meeting times\/deadlines; maybe time is a construct and more of a suggestion than a rule.<\/p>\n Here then are some photos from the starting line mill-about.<\/p>\n The sun was just starting to break through the night and wouldn’t really be shining on us until probably mile 6 or 7… but the horizon was illuminated in that great pre-dawn light. Is there a thing such as “pre-dawn?” If there is, it looks something like this:<\/p>\n Maybe pre-dawn is just, ya know, night.<\/p>\n I didn’t take a lot of photos along the way, choosing instead to just try and focus on the run itself.\u00a0 I was hurting… still am in fact.\u00a0 My legs were on fire, remain on fire, are going to remain on fire, as if screaming out in pain would somehow convince me to stop, just stop, and give them a break from the expand and contract, contract and expand, jostle and jangle of motion and resultant locomotion pounding the pavement… It was quite literally pounding the pavement as each footfall sent ripples of force and pain reverberating through the muscular and skeletal systems.<\/p>\n Thus, I tried to just keep running even when confronted with a few hills along the way.\u00a0 Even shuffling half-step jogging was better than slowing to a walk or Good Gravy, Marie! <\/em>actually stopping to catch my breath and recover.\u00a0 I thought if I ever did stop running, my legs would stage a Les Miserables<\/em>-ian style barricade and try and force the issue.\u00a0 A general strike seemed likely and I had no strike busters or scabs to carry me on.\u00a0 Thus a strategy of perpetual motion.<\/p>\n As I was running I did think about 2016.\u00a0 Why was that on a Monday?\u00a0 Calendar wise that makes no sense — In two years, without a leap year curve ball, the 24th of July should’ve moved two calendar days.\u00a0 How could I have run on a Monday?\u00a0 The answer came to me as if in a dream.\u00a0 I have to assume the town protects its Sundays for LDS and other Churches.\u00a0 The Salt Lake City Marathon for example is a Saturday event.\u00a0 So when Pioneer Day falls on a Sunday, they must “observe” it on the following Monday.\u00a0 Indeed, I vaguely recalled as I was running that when linking to the prior year’s race, it was dated July 25th<\/strong>, not the 24th, which makes me think I have made posted all kinds of inaccuracies and errors on this blog.\u00a0 Could it be something on the internet hasn’t been vetted properly?\u00a0 Could we even imagine a world wherein the internet might be (gasp) wrong?<\/p>\n I’ve ruined everything.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n As I approached the finish line, the race announcer said I was the 26th marathon finisher.\u00a0 I guess there’d be no free car lease for me… though again as I was running I thought what I’d do if I won that thing.\u00a0 I don’t need a car… and certainly not one driven from Salt Lake City to my home.\u00a0 Hell, by the time I got it home I’d probably already be topping out on the allowable lease mileage.\u00a0 So while pondering the unlikely scenario of winning a car, I thought I’d ask if they could donate it to Meals on Wheels for a year, or to a family that needed a reliable car for work\/childcare\/etc.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/a><\/a> <\/a>\u00a0<\/a> <\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n