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Evan Johnson

First Full Marathon- St. George, Utah

My brother and I woke up at 2:30 a.m., left the hotel a little after 3:00 a.m. and arrived at the bus loading at 3:45. The first buses left at 4:00 and we were to the start line by 4:30. It was about 40 degrees and there were between 50 and 60 bonfires to keep everyone warm as they arrived.

The gun went off at 6:45 and of course it was still dark. It was quite the experience to literally see the sun rise above the mountains and red rocks. The scenery along the course was spectacular. I was feeling great and felt like an animal that had been released from a cage. I had a lot of bottled-up energy from being in the taper for the last 2 weeks and the travel to St. George the day before.

At mile 3 my brother started to speed up and I warned him he was going to hit a wall at mile 18 or 20 and he needed to pace himself, but hey what do older brothers know? He had never run more than 14 miles and he is a speedster at all race distances up to a half marathon. He still wanted to go so I told him I wasn't going to stop him, but I was going to keep my steady pace with the 3:30 group. I kept hearing Coach David?s voice, "don't go out too fast!"

The terrain was pretty flat up until what I think was mile 7 or so and then we had a mile incline that looked pretty daunting. I took it with ease and after the mile the incline tapered off gradually for another 2 miles. And then came the downhill! The first couple was great, but they re ally beat on my calves. I stayed with the 3:30 pace group up until the mile 20 markers and then Mother Nature called (actually she yelled). I had the attack and I was forced to stop at a port-o-potty that sat right next to the sign that said Mile 20 and was positioned right before a nice long descent into St. George. Lucky for me a guy came out of the port-o-potty just as I approached. That stop cost me a good 3 minutes and worst of all made my calves tighten up to the point that felt like rubber bands being stretched to their limits. Needless to say I had lost my spot with the 3:30 pace group. I thought for sure my calf muscles were going to pop.

I wanted to fly down that hill for the next 2 miles so bad and it was killing me that my calves were not allowing me to do so. I felt absolutely great aerobically and my energy level was still very high. My pace decreased significantly - it felt like someone was stabbing knives into my calves! The course flattened out around mile 22 and I was glad to be on some flat ground. I would have welcomed some more uphill though.

As I approached mile 23 within the neighborhoods of St George, I saw my brother walking SLOWLY off to the side of the road. I yelled his name and went over to him. As soon as he saw me he started to sob and said he was in a lot of pain and could not go on. It was quite an emotional moment and I told him that we were going to finish together and that I was not going to leave him. At that point I no longer cared about my time. I told him that I would walk when he wanted to walk, and run when he wanted to run, but he had to keep going. We walked and jogged on and off for the next 2 miles. At mile 25 we kept on a jog pace and with half a mile remaining I saw the finish line that was a big arch of balloons. I sped up and we both sprinted the remainder at 5:06 pace. The adrenaline kicked in and I was oblivious to pain and anyone else around me except my brother. As soon as I passed the finish line I stopped, leaned over and could not help but burst into tears. My time ended up being 3:47. My brother ended up with the exact same time. I was just glad that I was able to help him finish. He had stayed with the 3:10 pace group until mile 18 and then broke down. When I saw him at mile 23 he had been walk\running in major pain for the previous 5 miles, and said he was very close to quitting.

It was an awesome weekend and I am already stoked for the next marathon!!! I want to smash my first marathon time. Thank you to Runner's Edge for all the advice and a GREAT running group. Coach David is DEAD ON with his advice no one should doubt a word he says!

Evan Johnson Member since June 2007