My Marathon
Who else do you know has run with Mr. Incredible?
Not long ago -believe it or not (I almost don’t) I, Grace Biskie ran the Detroit Marathon in no less than the lighting fast speed of 5 hrs. & 45 minutes. Never been a runner, never had a penchant for pain. Nope, just a desire to raise money for a charity I believe in deeply, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Also, I work for them. Together a group of friends & I raised $3,400.
And this is my story…
The Complete Marathon Run Down: The good, the bad and the just plain ugly…
On the night before & morning of…
Pre-marathon planning --Nerd!
On Friday night I tossed & turned, my mind reeling about my impending doom, I couldn’t sleep. However, he night before the race, my body finally gave up. I woke up at 5:15am mostly rested and ready to face the battle before me! Once we got outside, the weather was perfect! I was still feeling a heavy dose of anxiety but starting to calm down a bit.
On running late and breaking rules…
Of course we were running late. We finally found the baggage drop off and got to the start line about 5 minutes before the race was set to start. I had to pee like 5 days worth of pee, but the lines for over 50 port-a-pottys were literally hundreds of people long. I am ashamed to admit it but I snuck into a bathroom that I wasn’t supposed to go into. I did however receive the consequences for my bad behavior, the stench was absolutely disgusting. Throw up worthy.
On getting started…
I got into my starting carroll at about 7:14am, a minute before the starting gunshot.
In the starting line! Ready, Set -Go!
And then it happened. I just sort of found myself eyes closed, taking deep breaths, imagining I was on the beach in St. Lucia. I was listening for the sounds of the waves, imagining the pitons & what the beach smelled like. (Which believe me is NOT an easy task when you are surrounded by hundreds of shockingly all ready smell-o-rrific athletes).
And then, a dead calm just came over me. I mean a dead calm. It was the same way I fell into a calm when I went into labor. I stood there for 10 minutes in complete peace. By that time, my carroll had opened up, with about 14,000 other runners in front of me & 2,000 behind me I got going.
On my first big mistake…
For some reason I had the big, bright idea of carrying my phone (a palm treo not light, sleek nor streamlined) & my camera in my running pack. You know how they say “never try anything new on race day,” no new shoes, socks even, no new hat or visor, no new brand of deodorant, no new juice drink or energy gel… nothing should be new… everything should be tried & tested to be agreeable to a long run. Well, of course I’d never run with my phone & camera –so this was new! Dumb! Stupid!
It was so heavy I felt like I was carrying around another person. Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrghhhhh! After I realized there was absolutely no option to get rid of it, no where to hide it & no one to give it to – I accepted my fate. I squoze the running belt tightly around my belly bulge until it didn’t bounce…as much. If I had to lug around these big hunks of weight, doggone it I was going to use them! I ended up taking 55 pictures & placing 4 calls during the race!
On the first 10 miles…
meet all my new friends
Running in the early morning, with thousands of people, I really felt great! Honestly, the first 8-10 miles went by shockingly fast! They felt easy even. The beauty of running along the Detroit River in Canada proved to be a worthy distraction. I felt tireless.
On running over the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit & Canada…
The Ambassador Bridge
It was just gorgeous. A bit of an incline for running but definitely a highlight of the whole race. Besides, I was running next to a guy dressed as “Mr. Incredible,” I was feeling pretty great!
On stroking the Canadians ego’s…
I truly loved running in Canada. The people there were such great encouragers and the scenery was so beautiful. I was really sad to have to leave. Especially when leaving meant going through a mile long tube buried deep under the Detroit River. It’s not exactly a pleasant thought. Anyway, as I was leaving there were about 300 Canadians standing at the edge with signs, whistles & lawn chairs.
on the Canada side
I yelled very loudly “THANK YOU CANADA YOUV’E BEEN WONDERFUL!” They were thrilled, they stood up and started screaming loudly as if I was J.Lo and had just performed for them. I couldn’t believe the level of their cheers. I think I really made their day!
On running through the Detroit-Canada underwater tunnel…
Frightening! All I could think about in there was my escape plan if water came gushing in. After awhile I determined I’d probably die so there’d be no hope of trying to stay alive. Those dying thoughts were only distracted by how utterly STUFFY it was in there. Uughgh, that plus the smell of sweat, yuk. When I finally emerged back on the Detroit side, the rush of wind felt so great! And I realized of course, “I’m alive!”
On my first big discouraging moment…
The evil half way mark
Mile 13.1 –the half way mark. I felt fine. It was clear I had lots more energy to give. But, as great as it was to know I was half way, it was also quite a daunting thought…”you mean I have to do what I just did all over again?!?!” I was discouraged… but took a big deep breath & pushed on. Stopping now won’t get me to the finish line, I reasoned within myself.
On “suffering” for Jesus…
At about mile 15 or so, I tried to remember why I was doing this: for student ministry. I looked over from the Detroit side and saw that big “University of Windsor” sign –
a good reminder
which I had taken a picture of while I was in Windsor- and remembered how much God loves the University & every student in it. I thought about how for all of humanity people have been tortured, maimed, kidnapped & martyred for Christ and here I am feeling sorry for myself because I’m running a marathon to advance God’s Kingdom amongst college students. In terms of human suffering, running a marathon is but a drop in the bucket –if that even- and no cause to complain certainly. I stopped –not literally- to take a moment and thank Jesus for the honor it was to run this marathon and to play a miniscule role in “suffering” for him and his purposes in the world.
On God’s provision…
I had remembered the i-pod, the phone and the camera but I forgot the Advil! The only pill I can chew and not gag on since I can’t swallow pills. (Tylenol, Aleve & others are all disgusting to chew). At mile 16-17 my feet were starting to ache. (I have plantar fasciitis) I knew with over 9 miles left I needed to get pain reliever fast! I started really praying for God to take care of my feet so that I could finish. About 5 minutes later I notice this woman with a large bottle of ADVIL handing them out to any runner who wanted some!!! I could not believe God’s specific provision & answer to my prayer!
On Dave’s prayer…
just outside Tigers Stadium
I called Dave at mile 18 and put him on speaker phone while I ran. He had gotten up at 4am after 3 hours of sleep to drive 10 hours from Milwaukee to meet me at the finish line. I was so worried about his staying awake on the road & decided to check in on him. He said, “You’ve all ready run 18 miles, you sound so nonchalant!” And in some ways I was. I still felt fine, save for my feet. Anyway, we talked for 5 minutes and then I asked him to pray for my last 8 miles and especially my feet. Dave’s deep big voice was booming out of my phone into a quiet block & every runner nearby could hear him pray this beautiful prayer for me, my feet and all the runners. It was a surreal moment.
On seeing something truly disgusting…
At mile 19.5 I stopped for some water and Gatorade. I also asked for some Vaseline because I could feel that my “body glide” stuff was wearing off and my legs were chaffing. The woman scooped a huge dollop of Vaseline with two q-tips which I quickly started rubbing all over my legs & arms.
comic relief - "litter blows"
Just then the woman said “anyone else need any Vaseline?” This girl ran up stopped right next to me and said “sure.” But she had her headphones on. I’m not sure what she thought the woman said, but my guess is that she thought it was cotton candy because she put a ping pong ball sized dollop of Vaseline in her mouth! I yelled out “that’s Vaseline!!!!” but it was too late. Let’s just say when I left the water stop; she was still scraping her tongue.
On being tempted to cheat!!!….
view from the island
Between miles 17 and 21 was the run around Belle Isle. The way in and the way off the island is a shockingly small bottle neck in which it would have been incredibly easy to simply fumble oneself into the crowd of runners exiting the island therefore shaving 4 miles off. Good thing I read Bill Hybels’ “Who you are when no one is looking.” I didn’t cheat, but boy it sure was tempting for a moment.
On being faced with the realities of the city…
It was the Detroit marathon. Purposeful or not, who knows but they ran us through a few run down parts of the city. There was no way to not be confronted with poverty. A homeless man with no legs in a wheel chair begging for change from marathoners… it was incredibly sad. This is my city! I was raised here! I LOVE Detroit! Black people, poor people, drug dealers and all –these are MY people! And I find them to be wonderful, thank you very much.
surrounded by art
view from the riverwalk
I was overcome with pride and thanksgiving. I prayed, “thank you Jesus for bringing me up in Detroit. Thank you that I have always known poor people. Thank you that you have given me a heart for and compassion for the poor….” I ran through Detroit and remembered Jesus’ words, “the poor will always be among you,” and his own emotions towards the urban poor, “Jesus wept for Jerusalem.” I cry for Detroit & during the marathon was no different. It was a great reminder that I want my kids to know poor people like I did. Growing up in Detroit was A GIFT TO ME: I don’t care what anyone says about my city. It was God’s gift to me. I would be a different person if I was raised in the burbs & I wouldn’t trade my “poor Detroit upbringing” for anything in the world.
On the power of community…
somebody kill me now -SIX more to go
I admit, I started to walk a bit at mile 21.5. My feet were hurting & I was starting to limp a bit. Besides, it seemed like EVERYONE WAS WALKING at mile 20 and after. But my friend whom I had been with on & off the whole race simply said to me, “look, my feet are killing me too! Let’s just finish!” I needed her. I needed that so badly. I just manned up and started running again, miserable as I was starting to feel.
On “hitting the wall”…
Thank God, I didn’t “hit the wall” until mile 23. I was finally starting to feel tired and weary at mile 22, but when 23 came it felt like death was near. Honestly, I felt so awful I didn’t think I could walk the last 3 miles let alone run them! Every sideliner that said “you can do it,” or “almost there,” was like life to me.
I quickly put on Eminem’s “lose yourself.” I needed external motivation badly! Did you know there is a line, in lose yourself that mentions your feet?? “so here I go, it’s my shot, FEET fail me not, this may be the only opportunity that I got, you better lose yourself in the music the moment you own it you better never let it go, you only get one shot…. Opportunity comes once in a lifetime!” It’s like God had Eminem write that song just for me, just for that moment! j/k hehe
People, I don’t how I did it or why, but I just decided I WOULD NOT WALK. I was going to run through that finish line even if I collapsed and died when it was over! It was just a dead resolute decision which made no sense given how I felt.
It sort of felt like when you have a high fever with absolutely no energy or desire to lift your head. It’s kinda like that, I just felt awful. I had nothing left to give energy-wise. And my feet, my God, my feet!
However, I did have one great thing going for me… In the last 3 miles, because of my decision to run and not walk I passed over 1,000 people. That was awesome!!!!
On absolute disbelief…
Getting to mile 24 was just evil. And then when mile 25 came I was in absolute disbelief…. “how in the world could I NOT be done yet?” People, I was soooooooo over it. I was just ready to be done. I wanted to just start killing people –or myself, either was fine- I was so irrational, emotional & angry.
On getting to the blasted finish line…
Mile 25 to mile 26 was soooooooo hard. It felt like the longest 12 minutes of my entire life. It kind
is this sign supposed to be helpful???
of felt like I was being tortured. (I.E. If I were a spy in another country being interrogated, I would have said “I’ll talk, I’ll talk! I know everything, just let me stop running!)
My feet felt like I was running on shards of glass. My legs felt like large, heavy, horrible objects to drag. I had a headache & I was feeling an extremely intense anger directed at myself. “What good reason is there in the world, anyone would do this to themselves?!?!” I felt disdain for myself as if I was enduring an abusive husband or something. Everything felt physically & emotionally wrong. Dead wrong.
And then I saw the 26 mile sign! Thank God! But no finish line… this was odd indeed. And then I remembered that a marathon is 26.2 miles, not just 26! The finish was around the corner & I couldn’t see it yet. What a cruel trick!
I angrily rounded the corner & once I saw the finish I started balling. Only something was off in my body so every time I started to breath in, I started almost hyperventilating.
.2 miles never ever ever felt so horrible and long… but finally I passed the finish line! For 5 hours & 45 minutes I ran! Between crying very very hard, the hyperventilating, and the limping because of my feet lets just say I didn’t have the prettiest of finishing pictures!
always the model, I smiled pretty just .2 miles out from the finish
After I crossed it, I dropped to my knees & finished my little crying session with hundreds of strangers watching what must have been a miserable and pathetic sight to see.
The funny part was when I tried to get up from 3 minutes of kneeling and crying. My legs had locked up so badly I couldn’t get up. It took a full minute and two people to help me back up.
I only wish I had taken video of the two hours after the marathon of trying to walk. Every step took forever. It was comedic watching me limp back to the hotel. What should have been a 7 minute walk, took 20! My feet pain was intense afterwards until I iced them, took a cold bath and popped the Advil for 4 days straight!
On feeling pride, happiness & joy at the conclusion….
Despite the suicidal-slash-homicidal thoughts I entertained while running those last 3 torture miles, once I finished they were all replaced with intense joy, pride and sheer happiness that I did it! I really did it! My tears weren’t for my feet they were tears of joy over the 4 months dedicated to being able to get to the finish line. It was an awesome feeling of accomplishment.
I did it, now it’s your turn.
