On Saturday, I ran the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon. I arrived in Indy around 10:00 a.m. and went to the Eiteljorg (I'll save that for another post) and had lunch with my friend A. at Einstein Bros. Around 2 I drove to the airport to pick up K, and we killed some time going up to the top of the Circle Center Monument which was hot and graffittied and hanging out at Borders filling our heads with places to travel.
After A got off work we walked over to the Convention Center for the Race Expo. We picked up our bib numbers, I bought a mini-marathon shirt, and we had a fruitless search for red running socks. After dinner at Rock Bottom, the three of us went back to A's nice new digs and went to sleep.
We woke up at 6:00 a.m. and put on our race gear, drove up to the race, and walked a few blocks in the morning cold to the starting line. Because we had estimated that our finishing time would 2:40:00 we were placed in carrol 'P' we found our way through the crowd to the appropriate place and seemed to fit in with the rest of the people.
Before each race, K and I like to find 'our people' the runners. It's hard to describe who we look for but the main qualification is that they look a little pokey for some reason. The 'P' carrol had some of our people but some serious looking runners. I guess with a race of 35,000 people that's to be expected. The race officials play the national anthem, a local priest gives a prayer, and the race is underway. K, A, and I just stand there. About fourteen minutes later, we make it up to the starting line and start the race.
A runs with us a couple of minutes but then heads off at a quicker pace. Just past the first turn with the Eiteljorg and State Museum on the right, there is a little patch of bushes. I look over and see at least 15 guys peeing in the woods and running back to the course. The course is lined with bands of all kinds playing and once you would get out of earshot of one another would be right up ahead. We heard Jamaican Music (my favorite of the day), high school rock bands playing Weezer and originals, a cello and fiddle rocking out to "Play that Funky Music White Boy", metal and a guy with an acoustic singing Guster. Some people opted not to play at all but instead prostelize about how the most important marathon is the one heavenward.
Around Mile 3 were passed by a gorilla and I yelled, "Good job, gorilla!" which got a laugh out of the fellow runners and a fist pump from the great ape. A few minutes later, we were the ones doing the passing, as we crept ahead of a man wearing a full firefighters suit (with oxygen strapped on his back and a mask on) who was raising money for charity.
We continued running, getting water and gatorade at the numerous rest areas, as we approached mile 6 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This was by far the coolest part of the race but also the most challenging. On TV, the Indy Race track looks like it takes about 30 seconds to aip around. What we don't realize is that the track is 2.5 miles long and what we don't see are all the little groves in the track like a giant record. The course seems to go on and on and you can't even see the opposite side from the one you are on. The grooves are close enough together that made me a little dizzy. It was at this point that we passed a man in military fatigues with a full pack on his back; I told him "good job" and kept of jogging. The entertainment at the track is also lacking because instead of bands, high school cheerleaders line the course. K and I both blew kisses to the row of bricks in the track, though some people will actually stop and kiss the ground.
Once you get done with the track, however, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Mile 9 is close at hand and then you only have 4.1 miles left. At Mile 10, instead of water or gatorade, the Hi Neighbor Tavern and their leather-clad, biking patrons serve beer to the less than elite runners. K and I definitely took some (we had been looking forward to it since we found out about it the previous night) and 2 ounces of ice cold beer definitely hits the spot.
The last 5K works it's way back to downtown Indy and runs along the river and over the bridge to Military Park. I urged a couple of runners on who started walking and questioned whether I was going to be able to make the last .5 without stopping myself but K and I pushed on and finished at 2:26 which was a little better than the average and placed us at 16,002. We turned in our timing chip and were given our finisher's medal. As we exited the finish line we picked up fruit, water, cookies, energy bars and went to go find A who had finished in 2:04 and claim our free runner's beer. There's a great sense of accomplishment after running 13.1 miles and the fact that you are doing it with 35,000 other people with 1.2 million spectators makes it seems less like a competition and more like a community event. I can't wait for the Chicago Marathon.
On a Side Note:
The quote of the weekend was by K as we rode the $1 elevator to the top of the circle monument, we passed some kids taking the steps, K imitates the mom and says: "Tell your Daddy to get a job!"
