I'll give Disney Credit where it's due, they know how to put on a race! The marathon had about 15,000 people register and about 13,000 finishers, making this one of the biggest races I've been apart of. Of the 15,000 people who raced, less then 2000 were men. and the rest were women. The race course was relatively flat and ran through Disneyland and California Adventure the course map can be viewed here -- runinfinity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Tinker_Bell_Half_Marathon_coursemap.jpg -- It was amazing, cast members were out in full costume, music blasting, fireworks at the start. I've never been so excited to run a race.
The race started at 5am, and it took about 11 minutes from the time of the gun for me to get to the start line, there were that many people. I had to zig and zag around all the fatties who wanted to stop and take pictures -- what the hell people, this is a run, not a casual stroll in the park. Miles 2 through 6 were all inside the park, and running through that almost powers you through, pushing and inspiring to give your all.
After the 10k mark (just under halfway at 6.22 miles) I hit a time of 52:09, and I realized I was quickly on my way to finishing my first half marathon under 2:00 hours. Disney, behind the high and mighty power it is and controlling practically half the free world, had several different school bands and cheerleads and thousands of spectators to cheer you on as you ran around the streets of Anaheim. The coolest part was the "Red Hat Society" that was there to support just before the 10k mark. They lined about 1/2 a mile and were cheering loudly, it was impressive to see how many of them came out to support runners so early on a Sunday Morning.
Pushing Down an energy gel to retain substance in my body I pushed forward. Determined to slay the beast that was my 2 hour goal. Then it came, the part I dreaded, the last 7 miles. After averaging the first 10k at a pace of 8minutes 23seconds, I bit down and decided I wanted to keep that pace. Then I found it, my new motivation. A guy who had been running in front of me for the last mile, only a few feet ahead of me, I wasn't going to let him leave me.
After battling this guy for a couple miles, each of us leading the other, we found ourselves next to each other, then we started chatting, turns out, he was using me as motivation to keep the same pace. That felt great, we both had similar goals, don't let the other one ditch us. Then came the 15k (9.32mile) mark, and I had a time of 1hr 18m 17 seconds, still had that 8:23 pace. I could feel it, less than 4 miles to go and over 40 minutes to do it in, I had the two hour mark in the bag, IN THE BAG!!!!
Then in my head something happened, math happened.. who does math during a race that you're trying to set a Personal Best in, apparently I do, seriously, most people don't do this. Here's the logic…. and try to follow what I was thinking, because sure as hell know I had no idea what I was thinking..
Hey Steven
Yes Brain
You know how you really want to finish under two hours?
Yeah, I would be stoked
You know what's better than two hours?
No, what?
One hour and 50 minutes
Wait… what…how… that's impossible.. get outta here, two hours is fine
No, no, no, no, here me out, we're right there, on the cusp of it. we just need to pick up the pace
Pick..up..the..pace. Yeah, get outta here brain..
All you have to do is average 8minutes 23seconds a mile and we'll do it, but since you've had to zig zag around fat people in the beginning you're distance is off and we have to pick it up
I. am. not. listening.
We can do, let's try to get the pace to around 8minutes a mile for a bit.
it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all…
That won't work, I control the legs, and here we go!
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.. okay, lets do it! 1:50.. 1:50.. 1:50..
So, I know that won't make sense, but imagine me, running my friggin heart out, and just realizing I can hit my goal time, then I have an internal struggle to pick up the pace and drop 10 minutes off that.. oh and for the record, the red is what my brain is saying, the blue is what my body is saying. But away we went, and the miles ticked by..
Mile 10 timed in at a pace of 8minutes 10seconds
Mile 11 was done at 8minutes 11seconds
Mile 12 ticked by at 8minutes 17seconds
No way, I was actually picking up the pace, 1:50 was a real possibility, but how would the last 1.1 miles suit me? At the start at mile 13 over an 1hour 40minutes, I had 10 minutes to put up, let's see how the legs do. Mile 13 seemed to go on forever, every turn I hoped to see the finish line. then there it was, finally, the Mile 13 marker. I had put up a 7minute 53second mile for the 13th and final mile of the race. Now all that was left was a point 1, and here we go, I shot outta there like a cannon, going for the finish, going for the 1:50, knowing I had it, knowing it would be close.
Crossed the finish line, stopped my watch, and couldn't stand to look at it, I didn't want the news, I had I done it? I knew I broke two hours, that was obvious, but did I break 1:50, had i really taken 14 minutes off my previous record that I set only 2 weeks prior. Then I saw it:
01:49:27 ONE HOUR FOURTY-NINE MINUTES TWENTY-SEVEN SECONDS
All I can say it, HELL FUCKING YEAH, pardon my french, my parents raised me better then that.
Now you may ask, what's next in your crazy running life.. Well, I've got a full marathon on Feb. 2nd. Starting time is at 6am I believe, may be 6:30am I haven't looked yet. Be on the lookout for my live tracker email. So grab yourself a coffee, sit yourself down in front of the computer for four hours and watch as a little dot that represents me blips across your screen.
If you're curious about seeing more you can look up more by using the following steps:
1. go to www.marathonfoto.com
2. Last Name: Burkett
3. Bib Number 3621
4. Race: Tinker Bell Half Marathon 2014
There are about 27 photos of me.
