HALF MARATHON AND WEEKEND THOUGHTS

Now that we were back home in Lawrence, I thought I would give you some thoughts about the weekend (mostly about the half-marathon).  I had been looking forward to this weekend, not knowing quite what to expect. I was both nervous and excited for the opportunity to participate with Team Challenge.  The whole Kansas City team did great and our coordinator, Danielle did a fabulous job with everything.  It was also great to have the support of my mom, sister and aunt there to cheer us on.  It meant the world to us.

Mentally this whole process has done a world of good for me.  You often feel alone and separated with these diseases(even with the great support I receive).  I cannot describe the feeling of seeing all weekend people with different orange Team Challenge t-shirts, jackets, hats, ect. and realizing that all of these people were working together to the same goal that you were of finding a cure for Crohn's and ulcerative colitis.  These people could be from Oregon, Minnesota, Florida or New York, it did not matter, when you saw each other you would smile or give a friendly wave or hello.  You really felt connected to something that was bigger than yourself.  It was quite humbling and inspiring at the same time.   It made me feel like, I am not alone.  There is a lot of other people who struggle with this on a daily basis and are trying to do something about it.  This really came thru at the pasta dinner on Saturday night.

To get to the pasta dinner hosted by the CCFA, we had to pass between a long gantlet on either side of cheering people.  These were all of the coaches, mentors and CCFA staff from the different Team Challenge groups around the country.  It was embarrassing at the start, because I do not handle unbridled affection and praise directed toward me in a loud and crazy way well, but after making it down the lane some I found myself relaxing and realizing that these people really do understand and they want me to feel that passion and excitement.  It made me think of all those times when I could not do what I wanted.  From not being able to do things because I had to be near a bathroom every 15 minutes, to leaving events early because of terrible cramps and abdominal pain, to fearing while in public that hopefully I would not have to use the restroom or feeling like I had let people down because of canceling plans or missing work or not being able to do things with your wife or daughter because you were to weak and sick.  I think it hit me right there.  This is even more important than I realized it would be (and I thought it would be special).  I am doing something to make this better, if not for me, then for future generations.  I need to keep fighting the good fight.

The dinner itself was ok.  It ended up being hard to hear a lot of the speakers with the sound system they had in the ballroom, but those I heard were very inspirational.  The ballroom was massive with over 2,300 people attending the dinner (1,300 of those were participating in the half-marathon.  The best part of the dinner was when they went around and announced all of the different teams across the country.  It was another moment that hit me, seeing all of these different people together in this room made me not feel alone.  The primary purpose of Team Challenge is to raise funds for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA).  Our Kansas City team has raised over $60,000, while the total funds raised nationwide for this one event totaled $4.5 million.  Let me say that again, $4.5 MILLION DOLLARS!!!!  Much needed money for research and support programs.  Unfortunately the more dollars you can get = a cure.  To be part of that I am very proud.  And to all of those who donated or supported us, you should be proud as well, you are making a difference in people's lives.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I finished the half-marathon for you as well.

Sunday finally came, race day!  Amanda and I took it easy and rested.  It was tough with the half-marathon not being until the night.  I just wanted to get started.  I felt myself getting more nervous as the hours passed counting down till when we were suppose to meet the team down in the lobby.  I never got this nervous before any soccer game I played in, what was going on.  Many thoughts going thru my head - was not training much the last month because I was sick going to hurt me much?  What would happen if I had to stop a lot for bathroom breaks?  Was my seton from my last surgery going to rub to much and bleed or soak through my bandage?  But you know what happened, Amanda helped out.  She was getting ready in the bathroom and went to walk back into the room and slipped on some water on the floor and crashed down to the ground landing on her knee on the hard tile.  Any questions I was having stopped, as I started to worry about her and hoping she had not hurt herself to much and hoping it would not cause her problems in the race, which thankfully did not.

I went with a dry fit long sleeve shirt with my Team Challenge singlet over it, dry fit shorts and my racing pack that contained my water, bandages for my seton, energy gel chews and lifesavers candy pack roll.  I also had my mp3 player for music.  With it being cold out (low 40s at beginning and low 30s by end of race) I went with a dry fit stocking cap and gloves.  We then met our team in the lobby for more waiting.  At 4:30 we headed outside to make it to our start coral.  We were in coral 19.

We made it to our coral, which was already filling up with people an hour before the start of the half marathon.  I was ready just to get started, hated just standing around waiting and knowing once it started we would have another 20-30 minutes before we would even get up to the start line.  It was cold out, but at least with all of the people around created got amount of warmth and wind break.  By now the sun had gone down and the senses were on overload with the flashing lights of the strip, laser beams shooting out from various stages and rock n roll music filling the air.  Finally, the countdown begun and the first wave of people was released and we slowly started moving towards the start to begin our adventure.

As we crossed the start line, the sheer number of people was a little overwhelming.  It reminded me of a mosh pit at a 311 concert.  Just people pushing forward, running into you and bouncing off of you.  I felt like a human pinball for the first 3-4 miles.  Amanda and I were both walking the half marathon, so we moved to the right side as far as possible to stay out of runners way, but it did not matter.  It was chaos at times.  Luckily we had decided to bring water with us because the first water spot we passed had no water left!  Just crushed cups laying crumpled on the ground.  After really hydrating myself all day to prevent dehydration I already had to make a porta-potty stop and thankfully Amanda did as well.  We still had to walk a ways before we came on a porta-potty stop, which had about 10 stalls standing side by side.  Each line was 8-10 deep with runners.  I started to panic a little inside, maybe I could hold it longer.  All I could think is that we were going to be knocked way off our pace to finish the race.  I knew I would take longer and Amanda's line was moving faster, so I told her to get back on the course and I would catch up to her.  I kept looking at my watch, seeing the time go by.  5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes and finally it was my turn.  One thing about a night race that I did not think about, is that it is pretty dark once your inside a porta potty.  So after around 20 minutes I was back on course trying to track down Amanda.

One good side effect on the pit stop, was that a lot of the runners had passed by now and the crowd had thinned out a little.  I picked up the pace and soon spotted Amanda about 5 minutes down the road.  Both relieved of our pit stop we continued forward down the strip.  Looking behind us, all you saw still was a mass of people, so that calmed me that our stop had not killed us in being able to finish the race in the allotted time, but I still wanted to finish as close as possible to 4 hours and I thought that was probably in real danger.  However, the goal all along for both of us was to finish the race no matter what.  Physically, I was feeling good - no fatigue (yet), not a lot of pain from the seton (yet) and no muscle pain (yet).  Amanda was doing great as well, plugged into her music and moving forward knowing each step we were closer to the finish line.  We passed the Stratosphere and headed towards "Old Downtown Vegas" and Freemont Street.  This portion was a lot different than the strip, with hardly any spectators lining the route or bands playing.  Their was an erie quiet, even with all the people moving down the course.  We passed Freemont Street and turned a corner and our Team Challenge manager, Danielle, was there with a group of people cheering us on.  It was a definite lift.

That was a really awesome thing about Team Challenge, was that they had different cheer groups located all over the course.  Every time they saw your orange Team Challenge singlets they started cheering, telling you were doing great, keep going.  Just another example how it made you feel you were part of something bigger.  Those cheers helped keep pushing Amanda and I forward.

Once we made it thru "Old Vegas" we passed the half way point and were headed back towards the strip and the FINISH LINE.  By this time the temperature had dropped to the low 30s and the wind had picked up.  It was the first time I started to feel a little cold.  Around the 9 mile mark, our team coach found us and walked with us for awhile, checking to see if everything was going ok.  Amanda's calves had begun to cramp a little, so every once in awhile we would stop to stretch.  By the 10 mile mark, I could tell the bandage by seton was completely soaked.  It tends to bleed more when I do prolonged activity, so it was time for pit stop #2.  Thankfully, this time there was no lines for the porta potty and I was able to get in right away.  Amanda waited for me this time instead of going on ahead and having me catch up, which at this point would of been hard to do.  I changed the bandage in the darkness of the porta-porty.  While in there, I noticed 4 or 5 on the tracking bands we put on our shoes just lying on the floor.  I guess some people had just given up and decided no to finish, so that perked me up a little.  We were still moving towards the finish when others had given up.  And for me I had to finish, because I wanted to be able to say I did this, when so many other times my disease prevents me from doing the things I like.  I am in control is this moment, not the Crohn's!

We got back on course and Amanda said she felt a rain drop.  I said it couldn't be, the forecast had no rain in it. I told her it probably was just some sweat, but a few minutes later it started to drizzle.  At this point I just saw it as another test.  We were tired, sore, hungry and now cold and wet.  It was not going to stop us now.  Our coach passed us again, jogging by a shaking his head about the rain, he could not believe it either.  Our pace had slowed, but now it was all about finishing.  Even with all of our stops, I looked at my watch and we were still going to be close to the 4 hour mark.  We were back on the strip, but now the other side of the road had opened back up for traffic and we made our way down.  I could see the Mandalay Bay Hotel now and knew the finish was up there.

Everything on the strip is distorted because of the size.  Something that looks real close is actually a lot further away.  As we hit the last mile, Koach Karl, met back up with us and walked for a little and then peeled off and told us congrats, so that we could enjoy our moment together.  I could now see the finish.  One more turn and a short walk to cross the finish line.  As we crossed, I did not feel tired, sore or hungry for that moment, just a big smile and an incredible sense of satisfaction.  We had done it!  Although this disease makes you feel alone, Amanda has always been there and seen the many ups and downs.  She is my rock, and I love her for that.  She never waivers in her support, so it was fitting that we crossed together (something she will always remind me of now, is in our official times she crossed 1 second faster than I did).  Our official time was 4 hours and 6 minutes, not bad at all. We were not even in last place.  In fact there were some 7,000-8,000 people that did not even finish the half marathon.

After crossing the finish line we made our way slowly to the safe zone.  We did not receive our medals for finishing because they had run out.  I read online that the shortage was caused by full marathoners switching over to the half marathon and they had a medal shipment shortage of 6,000 medals.  We are suppose to get ours in the mail, which I hope they follow thru on.  In the safe zone, we got our mylar blanket, water, power bars and bagels.  We then had to make our way to the Team Challenge tent to check in and receive our 13.1 miles pin.  My family was able to meet up with us there, they had got stuck inside the Mandalay Bay and the mass of people from the race, it was a mess.  We then decided to walk around to the front of the hotel, to miss the area they just came thru, which turned to be a great decision.  We finally made it up to our room for our hot shower and then met our team out for some drinks and food.  It was surprising we could either move with our muscles aching at this point, but we had did it.

Looking back now, it was a draining weekend, as my body is still getting back to "normal".  So many people that had done the Team Challenge program said it was a life changing event and they are right. I just did something to fight this horrible disease, something proactive.  This disease has knocked me down and I know it will continue to knock me down in the future, it is the nature of the disease, but of the same time I will continue to live me life in the best way possible.  I will do it for myself, Amanda, Rowan and my family and friends.  Seeing all these people this weekend let me know that I am not alone.  This disease sucks, but we are doing what we can to make it better.  I thank all of you who supported and donated to us.  You are making a difference in my life and millions of others.  Until then I will continue to battle, so that Crohn's disease does not define me.  Thank you.

*I updated the picture section, so check that out to see other pictures from the weekend*

Mark