On October 18 my friend Natalie (a.k.a. "Cookie") completed her first 26.2 in the Nike Women's San Francisco Marathon. Jen and I came to support her and to run her in the last few miles.
We drove up to the city the night before to meet Cookie and her older sister Christine for dinner. We ended up going to an Italian place in the Mission district. It was a little frustrating because while we had made reservations it was awhile before they were able to seat us, and they seemed very disorganized about the whole thing. Normally I wouldn't mind that much, but the night before someone's first marathon stuff like that is annoying.
The dinner was pretty good but our waitress was flakey as hell. She forgot to put Cookie's order in, and didn't even realize the oversight when she brought our dishes out and was one short. I had to ask her when it was coming before she corrected it, then another few minutes for them to prepare it. As the only veteran marathoner at the table I felt a special empathy and responsibility to make sure everything went correctly, and I just about lost it (kind of silly, I know). But Cookie was remarkably composed and I made a personal note to try to stay more levelheaded in the future.
The next morning Christine and Cookie woke up at some ridiculous hour to take Cookie to meet her team at the start. She was running with the Team in Training program, which raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It's really quite an incredible program, both providing funding for a good cause and supporting novice athletes in completing their first marathons/triathalons/century rides/hiking adventures. Cookie planned to run with two friends with whom she had trained.
Christine came back and Jen and I woke up at a far more reasonable hour, got some breakfast and coffee, and drove out to the Outer Richmond district to intercept the race. We had decided to pick Cookie up around mile 17. I would run from there to the end, whereas Jen would run to mile 19 or so, and then wait for Cookie and I to complete the loop around the lake, and then finish with us. We waited on the side of the road, looking for our runner.
Waiting for CookieSuddenly there she was, and looking really strong! Jen and I started running with her and her two friends. We left Jen and mile 19, and then at mile 20 or so Cookie's friends had some support runners join as well, so Cookie and I started running on our own.
Jen, Cookie, and meI know that at this point in a race, most folks want anything to take their minds off the pain, so I was trying to think of any humorous/edgy/off-the-wall story I could come up with to entertain her, adding as much hyperbole as I could manage. The one thing I did not talk about was the pain that I had felt the previous week at my 50 miler... I thought that would just make things worse.
Hopefully it helped. Cookie was looking so strong that I couldn't really tell. She was continuing to drink and eat, and had just as many stories to tell as I did. She was really putting in a great performance.
For me it seemed like the miles were just flying by. As strong as she was, I don't think Cookie was feeling the same way. I would say "Wow, mile 22 already!" and Cookie would say "Only mile 22?" I guess that's the difference between feeling fresh and nearing the end.
We soon picked up Jen again and made our way to the finish. Cookie just kept getting stronger and stronger, and she really wanted to get in under 5 hours. So we picked up the pace and I related all of the end-of-race visualizations/actualizations I could think of. When we got within the last quarter mile she took off and we couldn't weave throught the crowds fast enough to stay with her. We also didn't want to get in the way of other people who were actually trying to finish the race, so we hopped off the course and walked around to the finish line
The San Francisco Nike Women's Marathon is unique in a few ways. While I don't think the event is closed to men, it definitely focuses on women running. The finish is an interesting spectacle where finishers are presented with Tiffany's necklaces, by tuxedoed SF firefighters no less, designed specifically for the event (the necklaces, not the tuxedoes). Talk about race schwag! It's a pretty great souvenir for a woman.
Cookie finished under 5 hours, and is already thinking about the next one. Congratulations! It's always fun to see someone complete their first, and to be able to support them in the effort.
Hopefully it helped. Cookie was looking so strong that I couldn't really tell. She was continuing to drink and eat, and had just as many stories to tell as I did. She was really putting in a great performance.
For me it seemed like the miles were just flying by. As strong as she was, I don't think Cookie was feeling the same way. I would say "Wow, mile 22 already!" and Cookie would say "Only mile 22?" I guess that's the difference between feeling fresh and nearing the end.
We soon picked up Jen again and made our way to the finish. Cookie just kept getting stronger and stronger, and she really wanted to get in under 5 hours. So we picked up the pace and I related all of the end-of-race visualizations/actualizations I could think of. When we got within the last quarter mile she took off and we couldn't weave throught the crowds fast enough to stay with her. We also didn't want to get in the way of other people who were actually trying to finish the race, so we hopped off the course and walked around to the finish line
The San Francisco Nike Women's Marathon is unique in a few ways. While I don't think the event is closed to men, it definitely focuses on women running. The finish is an interesting spectacle where finishers are presented with Tiffany's necklaces, by tuxedoed SF firefighters no less, designed specifically for the event (the necklaces, not the tuxedoes). Talk about race schwag! It's a pretty great souvenir for a woman.
Cookie finished under 5 hours, and is already thinking about the next one. Congratulations! It's always fun to see someone complete their first, and to be able to support them in the effort.
Cookie at the end of her first marathonInterestingly, I found out later that the event was won by ultra marathoner Caitlin Smith. Caitlin has really been killing it in the trail running world lately, and she keeps a very well written blog that I recommend you read.
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