Describe your race day.
Originally I was signed up for the half (with my wife) but in April I missed a BQ by 31 seconds, so I switched to the full in hopes of getting my BQ. Despite getting up at 1:30 am I felt pretty good. We jumped in the van and headed to the bus loading area which I would say was the only part of my race day experience that wasn't worthy of five stars, but it was a decent experience and I'm sure that's a detail that will come to together with time. (We didn't know where the different busses loaded but after a short time and some walking around we figured it out, ultimately no big deal) When we got to the mountain I was on the first bus so the porta-potty situation was great, but things got hectic real quick and unfortunately, I had some GI issues. But after three trips to the porta-potty, I was ready to go. So off we went!
I loved the course! The volunteers at the aid stations were awesome and the view was spectacular! I felt good but was still having GI issues and I had to stop 3 times the first 15 miles and was really close to throwing the towel in on the BQ time. I was having such a great race and was really enjoying it besides the porta-potty issues. My thought was if I'm not going to make my time I want to enjoy the race and the beauty around me, so I decided to forget about the BQ and just run my race. When I got to mile 21 I realized that I was still within reach if I didn't have to stop again, and I was feeling pretty good, so I started figuring out what I need to do to get my BQ.
My BQ time is 3:25 and my current pace was going to be either right on or I was going to miss it again by less than a minute. We drove the course so I knew that I was going to have a little uphill running, so I was thinking that how I handle mile 23-25 is going to be huge! 23 was close to flat and I finished it with a 7:46 pace, a little slower than what I wanted, but then mile 24 was back down and so I was able to pick it back up and run a 7:36 pace. This is when I started to get emotional because I knew that how I was feeling and how I was running that this was possible! This was my 6th attempt at qualifying and have never felt this good this late in the race, but now I was facing my first mile that had a net incline. It wasn't much but after running 24 miles it doesn't take much, but I was able to run a 7:54 and keep it close enough to my goal pace of 7:45 to keep my hope alive! When I reached the one mile away timing mark I looked at my watch and I had about nine minutes. I knew unless I blew up that I was going to do it! This seemed like such a long mile!!! But I was really cruising or least I felt like I was. I remember saying "where is the finish line" and a spectator heard me and said "you'll turn left right up here and then you will see it" That was needed! I get around the corner and see the finish line and things got a little blurry. Soon after I was crossing the finish line stopping my watch and then my legs totally gave out and I went to the ground. I heard "we need a medic" and then I saw my wife running toward me and yelling "YOU DID IT"!!!! What an epic moment! The tears were coming down as they put me in a wheelchair and carted me to the medical tent where they took my vitals and drank some fluids recovered a few minutes and was up and celebrating my 3:22:13 BQ!!!! My last mile was a sub 7:30! I have never run that fast that late in a race.. Thanks for such an awesome race!!!!