Marathon #36: Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon

I am pleased to announce that I just completed marathon #36, the 25th annual Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma!

This race was a really fun one to run! We have some friends that live in OKC, so visiting them while running a marathon was a great way to spend the weekend. The course was beautiful, winding through Midtown, Riverside, Capitol View, Nichols Hills, The Village, and more. It was a scenic course, with lots of trees, parks, and suburban roads.

The race started off bright and early at 6:30AM just minutes after sunrise. The weather was on the warm side, kicking off at 64°F and 94% humidity, rising up to about 70°F and direct sun by the time I finished. This heat and humidity definitely made the day a bit of a challenge, but I was able to push through and finish soaked in sweat, with an official 3:23:57 overall time.

• C Goal: Finish
• B Goal: sub 3:20:00
• A Goal: sub 3:10:00
• Stretch Goal: sub 3:10:00

I started the race off pretty strong and disciplined at about a 6:50 pace, feeling great, and keeping up with the pacers. I was able to maintain that pace for the first 8 miles or so, and felt pretty good.

Shortly after mile 8 however, I started feeling a little nauseated. Most likely just the heat and humidity combined with the strong efforts, but I was forced to slow down a tad, until ultimately, I pulled off to the side to 🤮 just a little. After a minute or 2 to recover from that, I started to feel better, but I never regained my full pace and settled down to about a 7:20 pace for a good while.

Around mile 16, I started to run out of steam and felt some nausea again, so I spent some time walking for about 30 seconds every mile for the rest of the race, resulting in about a 8:00 pace on average for the last 10 miles.

Di, Eli, and our friends Jess and Ryan, all came out to cheer me on at multiple spots throughout the course. It was incredible to feel their love and support as I ran through the streets of Oklahoma City. It kept me going in a difficult race where I wasn't feeling my best.

I was able to finish strong, with a final mile pace of about 7:26, and a sprint to the finish line down hill.

And of course, I incremented my tally later on that day!

Next up, I have marathon number #37, Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota in June. Stay tuned!