Last weekend I volunteered for the WILMINGTON MARATHON. I was the bike lead for the women’s leader of the 26. 2 race from Wrightsville Beach to downtown Wilmington. Believe it or not, I have never run this race. I have either volunteered or cheered since its inception in 2008. The first year, my job was to ride the course and take pictures. After that, I was voluntold by volunteer coordinator to lead the marathon woman. It is the hardest/best job ever. It is stressful and fun and this year it was cold. And I almost fell! More on that to come.

Post-Race with the winner of the Wilmington Marathon: Maria Lindberg in 2:43:26

The big news on race day was that it was cold. The lowest temp on my bike thermometer was 21.5. The average was freezing. I wore two pairs of socks and my snow hiking boots, thermal bottoms and snow pants, thermal shirt, flannel bike jacket, down sweater, balaclava, helmet and ski mittens and my ski goggles. I had HOT HANDS stuffed in my gloves, boots and pockets. I was actually comfortable.

Some background: There is a rider assigned to the lead male half marathoner, lead female half marathoner, lead male marathoner and lead female marathoner. All the lead bikers head out of Wrightsville Beach together and we stayed about 100 yards ahead of the male half marathoner. After we crossed the WB drawbridge, I stopped and waited for the lead female marathoner to pass by. This year I was looking for a woman wearing a red race bib. Once I spotted her, I rode ahead about a half mile, stopped to look back and let her pass me again to confirm that I have the right bib.

I usually have two fears on race day - that I will miss the lead runner and that I will take her off course. I need to add falling off my bike and taking out the lead runner to my list. All went well out on the highway. There were pockets of sunshine and shade and I watched my bike thermometer teeter totter from low to high 20s. The path into downtown winds through a neighborhood and then onto an old rail bed-turned greenway. It is hard-packed for the most part, but just as you exit there is a slight downhill with loose sand and gravel. I was worried about my bike handling through that section, so I actually had her go first. Sign of relief! I made it.

But, several miles later, headed into Greenfield Lake there was another downhill. I turned around to let my runner know that the aid station was on the left and I hit a little sand. I felt my tire fishtail and somewhere in my memory I remembered to lead-don’t-turn. Time slowed and sped up at the same time. I leaned right teetered towards what looked like a four-foot curb. I leaned away from it, fishtailed again and somehow kept myself upright. I was so afraid I would skid into her and take her out. [I do think if I had fallen, I’d have been injury free because of all my layers! #pillsburydoughboy]

Oh, shit! I said loudly.

Oh, shit! I heard Maria call out behind me. How did you do that?

I have no idea, I laughed. But, get your heart rate down and keep rolling!

That was an adrenaline rush, she said.

And, an embarassment and a thrill and a miracle, I thought to myself.

After that, I was worried about the wooden bridges out in the park. On a good day, they are slippery from humidity and mold. I did not want to find out what happened when mold iced over. At mile 22ish, I said: stay on the path. I will catch up with you. I went the long way round and it took me almost two miles to catch her. She was cruising at 6.5-7 miles an hour. It was so crushing it.

My FAVORITE part of the day is parting the sea of runners. I get to use my whistle and my outdoor voice to get runners to move right. This year, there was oncoming traffic for about two miles from the park to downtown. It’s easy to get runners to move because they could see me coming. The hardest part is when the marathoners merge with the half-marathoners for the half-mile stretch to the finish. The 13.1 runners have their backs to me and most of them have headphones and can’t hear the whistle. I almost pushed one woman out of my way because she would not MOVE RIGHT - even though I was standing on the pedals, blowing my whistle and yelling at her back a foot away.

I am always inspired by the speed and the grit that my runner has. Maria (Lindberg) was so consistent in her pace. Early on, I had heard her tell another runner that she wanted to finish in 2:53. She crossed the line in 2:43! Ten minutes faster than she expected. I found her after the race as she put on warm clothes and tried to eat a banana. I congratulated her on the win and she congratulated me on not wiping out.

I finished the day with a total of 30 miles and countless smiles!

TaTaForNow!

WILMINGTON MARATHON BIKE LEAD

FAVORITE LINKS