Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Picturing my marathoning

I just got my photos from the Toronto Marathon. I've a good collection of pictures from some of my eight marathons.

The first: Chicago Marathon, October, 2006, 3:35. This is me about hitting the wall just after Chinatown. A memorable race, aren't the first supposed to be?



The second: Marine Corps Marathon, October, 2007, 3:24. Trained another year, got some sort of a redemption but not quite the goal of 3:20





The third: Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon, 2008, 3:20. Met my goal and then some. We ran an extra 400 metres, so technically ran a 3:18 or so, paced well, didn't hit the wall and the hills were nothing. (You see I have my 'lucky' race gear on.)





The fourth: Toronto Waterfront Marathon, September 2008, 3:19. A BQ attempt (3:10) gone wrong, hit by heat after a strong 37K. It was raced after a remarkable summer of training. Finish line photo tells it all. I ended up in a wheelchair followed by a visit to the medical tent.





The sixth: Mississauga Marathon, May 2009, 3:24. Was pacing a friend for a 3:30 and when we parted ways at 35K, I turned it on. Fantastic finish, great start to the spring.





The seventh: Toronto Marathon, October, 2009, 3:12. BQed. Perfect weather, great pacing, awesome race. Pictures say it all.





7 comments:

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Great pictures, they're definitely worth 1000 words!

Quinto Sol said...

Simply exceptional... awesome compilation!

Anonymous said...

1. I like that you can see the pig at the finish line in the flying pig finish pic...

2. Heh - that same photographer got me at Waterfront last year - I also ended up with a picture where you can see Canadian Tire in the background.

3. I like that you have a mix of looking strong vs looking tired pics in your retrospective.

Marlene said...

The photos tell a great story.

Runshorts said...

So my first question was about the pig costume in the flying pig marathon ... then I read angryrunner's comment and d'oh. I'm not always good with obvious.

Even your pained pics are great. My race photos are hopeless and never to be shared.

Amy Reinink said...

AWESOME photos! Hope you're using them as a reminder about how great the end product of marathon training is — that honeymoon phase is awesome, but it's races like those that make it so great!

Anonymous said...

good fotos