I Went to Greece and All I Brought Home Was 4 T-Shirts and a Cold

No Running Today - I do have a cold (and I am wearing one of the t-Shirts!)

I bought the Marathon Photo Super Pak today. I have no idea if I would ever do this again but I wanted the first captured for eternity. Here's a shot I like.

Batman utility belt and all! I didn't really speak much about the race so I thought I would describe it here while it is still (painfully) fresh in my mind.

The Start

They picked us up from the hotel at 6:15 prompt. The walkers had already left the hotel at 5:15. I had hardly slept the night before. For me, this was unusual. Even Mark commented on it. Normally I sleep like someone hit me with a hammer. I kept thinking about finishing and all the people I would disappoint if I didn't. I thought about the people that I ran for Aunt Edith, Mom, Daphne Overhill, Elizabeth Evans, Marisa Connolly, Ross McMaster and others. I finally roused Dan and Mark at 4:45 and we went down for a surly breakfast with the hotel staff who had been called in early. (For those who plan to go to Greece, the Royal Olympic does not hold itself to Olympian standards)

We had pictures in the lobby. Here is Dan Good, Kari Barnard, Karleen Heer, Scott Carr and I getting ready to leave. Photo thanks to Donna Carr - Scott's Mom. The buses took us to the start just outside the city of Marathonas in a sports stadium that I suspect had something to do with the 2004 Olympics. They had a torch flame going and there were tons of people warming up on the track. I warmed and stretched (and went to the bathroom!). I was drinking water (probably a litre or more) before the race and wound up taking an unscheduled urinary disposal just like all of the Frenchman who nonchalantly stopped along the road for a public pee break.

We lined up in sections with the elite runners up front, the good runners in the middle and the "virgins" or unqualified in the back. We stood there waiting with the helicopters roaring overhead and a Greek Army band playing loudly.The announcer (four languages no less) was talking himself hoarse and THEN the gun went off! And we stood there! It takes a few minutes until we began to shuffle forward and the difference between my Gun Time and my Net Time represents this 3.5 minutes to get to the start. Photo credit Stratos Safioleas

As you start, you are trying to establish your pecking order like Alpha dogs and you spend most of your time looking over your shoulder seeing if you are going to get run over by some keener in the back. It is a little like playing the video game Frogger as you laterally shift back and forth trying not to get creamed by someone behind. This takes about 5 K to sort out. I came out doing about a 6:30 pace which was what I planned. Photo credit Stratos Safioleas

At the first water station they were cleaned out by the time I got there. Other runners were picking up discarded bottles that were half full and chugging that. I saw one couple go into a store to buy water, I guess. This early the water problem was not bad and I had 1 litre on my belt and a bladderfull inside. We ran a 5K detour (I guess to get the mileage right) into the middle of nowhere. I never did see the burial mound for the Battle of Marathon where the Athenians defeated the Persian Army. That would have been cool.

Some folks dressed up. There was a Athenian Foot Soldier and two people in togas. The French were all wearing beret's. It had a carnival atmosphere. People were all very focused but some had fun! Photo credit Stratos Safioleas


The Greek people came out of their houses to clap and cheer and the kids were all high fiving the runners that came near. Plenty of barking dogs but thankfully they were chained up or behind a fence. Many runners stopping to pee by this time. I joined them. I thought I would sweat it out but I was too late and needed to lighten up. This was much more convenient for the men. I saw a few women buddied up looking for a discreet place to go. There were portapotties along the route but I think the wait was a bit long.

At one point Jeff Galloway (a very well know US Marathon Coach) came up behind me and we chatted for a while but when his minute was up - I was left in the dust. But What a nice guy. No wonder he is so popular!

At about 12 K I paired up with Renata (Who complained about her earlier picture posted on the blog so here is a new one). Looks like she is trying to get some modelling work here! Photo credit Terrence Fowler

We began running together as we were both running ten minutes running and 1 minute off. Her watch had broken so I took over as the timekeeper and we both kept the same pace. Her third marathon, my first - so she was easy on me!

The chart below gives a profile of the course and a picture of how we managed the race. The green line is the course elevation. Pretty flat for the first 10 K and then uphill after that.

The red line is my heart rate. All in all not too bad and bizarrely it begins to come down a bit as we go uphill. I suppose I was going slower although the blue line doesn't show it.

OK - we did take a couple of extra walk breaks at the last 10 K but we EARNED them.

A couple of the small towns we ran through had the high school bands out playing on the sidewalk and the police had blocked the traffic so people were watching us pass and yelling "Bravo" like we had just sang an aria instead of peeing on their doorsteps. Again you can't say anything worng about the Greek people. They were so nice.

The last 5 K you forget about. It was a blur. We were moving through downtown Athens headed for the stadium. People were clapping and we saw lots of people from the JIM cheer team with Canadian Flags and they were jumping up and down for us. It was very moving.

I did get passed by a couple running with a stroller containing an infant - UPHILL!!!! AGAIN!!!! See this post. Also was passed by old geezers again AND a guy with two knee braces. BUT I DID NOT FINISH LAST!!!!! I met my goal.

We ran PAST the stadium for 250 yards and then reversed course and ran into the stadium. (I guess to make sure we did the full 42K). As usual in Greece, there was a dog sleeping in the most inconvenient place you could find - the ramp up the stairs into the stadium. (In Athens, the dogs live a good life, the sleep everywhere and the people just go around them.)

We passed a guy right at the finish - Renata has this thing about passing the guys! Me, I just wanted to get done!

The finish was emotional but I was posing for the cameras so I tried not to trip and fall or burst into tears like Paris Hilton going to jail and Renata and I crossed the line at the same time.

TOTALLY COOL!