Thanks to that Volunteer!

Insulindependence.org. (If you like this story, please give $10 or more to the organization that means the world to me, and the reason I did this past marathon).

Marathons should not be taken lightly, no matter how many you do, or how well you think you can do. Its still a long way to run. When you do it without your own shoes, it seems even longer.

You read right, not my own shoes.

This all started back in October-January. I needed to get new shoes by October, but I waited, waited, waited, waited. Procrastinated, procrastinated and procrastinated. Sure enough it was Wednesday before the marathon. I have the most broken down shoes I have ever run in. I did not want to run in them for Sunday's race. It wasn't ideal, but I decided to get a new shoe, run in it a couple of times, and then race. If your counting this is dumbness number 1, and 2.

Dumbness 3 was the kicker. As I was focusing on the nightmare of taking public transportation to Newark airport from Brooklyn (3 trains and 12.75 if you wanted to know) I grabbed my bag and headed out the door. Almost off the subway at Penn Station, people in the next car could see the white of my eyes. The expression "Oh S&!!" written all over those eyes and face. I never tied those new shoes to the side of my backpack, my only luggage. Oh well, I guess Ill just buy more in San Diego.

As soon as I got there, surfing came up, good friends and food. The procrastination continued It comes down to Saturday night, and I have no shoes. A great friend asked if I wanted to use his size 10 shoes. Yep, there my size, why not? Dumbness number 4.

Sunday morning comes, I put his shoes on and get ready to run. Sure they're a little snug, but they're okay. Mile 6,7,8,9 somethings not right. My toes are starting to hurt. Downhills are especially painful. Mile 10,11,12,13,14,15. DANG Im slowing down. Was doing 6:20 minute miles now doing 6:35's. Okay not the end of the world. Turn around comes at mile 18. Two things came to mind "either I ask for shoes at the aid station from volunteers or I go barefoot, not going a foot more in these shoes!" Being unbashful I yell at the crowd. "DOES ANYONE HAVE A 10 1/2 or 11 SHOE!!??!!" (Didn't want them to be too small) Sure enough a great and awesome older gentleman says "YA". Right there at the aid station at mile 18 he takes off his shoe and gives me his super supportive "Avia's" I untie the double knots he had on, tied 'em up and we discussed really quickly that they will be at the "Shoe-Giveaway" at the end. I ran from mile 18-26.2 in his shoes. Second pair of shoes that I didn't own, but ran in. The timing chip though was still on my left shoe. What to do? What to do? No time to think, I ran with that shoe in my hand from mile 18-26.2. Every checkpoint on the ground, I bent over so that the shoe could connect with the ground electronic timing device." Quite the scene, according to the spectators.

I went from a possible PR of 2:55 to finishing a "save face" goal of under 3 hours. 2:59.40. Thanks to my friend who gave me his shoe, and thanks to that VERY Special Volunteer. In 2011 with all the bad news, you don't always get to hear about that "special volunteer" Thanks to him! Thanks to him! Thanks to him, I could still break a 3hr marathon. And yes. I have VERY black and blue toenails!

Oh, and if you want to race a marathon, my advice is BRING YOUR OWN SHOES.

Video of me crossing the finish line can be seen at Brightroom at http://www.brightroom.com/go.asp?92094626 (SUPER FUNNY, but painful)
You can see the early morning photos' I have a yellow shoes on, and towards the end I have large white ones on.