I fly in Friday evening with friends Jeff Kramer, Sarah Guttery, Greg Aker and his wife Billie and daughter Alexia. As we are walking to baggage claim Greg, who is in front of me slows down, puts his arm around my shoulder and points me in the direction of a chauffeur with a sign that says Mr. Winkel. I am totally surprised. We walk out to the parking garage and there is a Stretch Limo. I have only driven in a limo one time and this is my first drive in a stretch limo. We (not just me) were taking pictures, pushing all the buttons and just having a good time. I called Toni to let her know we arrived safely and that we were in a stretch limo on the way to the hotel. When we arrived Toni was waiting for us as well as my daughter and son and their families and several friends. I thought this is what it must feel like to be a celebrity.
Fast forward to Sunday morning. The forecast was rain, a lot of rain, wind with a low temperature of 49 degrees. About 20 of us (SCR members) walk to the Superdome in various forms of rain gear (ponchos, trash bags and extra shirts). I have a flash back to St Louis where we ran in the cold, wind and rain for the entire 26.2 miles. I was thinking it was a good thing Sean Black wasn't here. Although he ran a great time in St Louis he didn't have a great time due to the cold. I wasn't happy about the weather conditions for Mardi Gras but I was concerned about Ernie Diaz running his first marathon and Janiene Pape, Matt Page, Kelly Erlstem and Alex Pandelos all running their first half marathon. I didn't want their first to be an unpleasant experience. After getting to the Superdome and prior to getting to the start line, most of us are lost to each other. Sarah, Greg and I managed to get to the start line together and then Dave Farrall met up with us at the start line. It's a crowded start with about 2,500 marathoners and about an equal number of Half Marathoners. The rain has stopped, the temperature is probably in the low 50's and very little wind. The weather cooperated throughout the entire morning, close to ideal conditions.
The marathon and half marathon start together at the Superdome. Sarah and Greg are out of sight within the first mile. My son-in-law Joe Eakins and I stay together. We plan to walk about 30 seconds at each water station, about every 2-miles. Both loops are totally out and back so we should be able to see all the half marathoners once and the marathoners twice. We get to the French Quarter at mile 1 in 7:51. (Note: I am running with a GPS and my mile splits are accurate, but my minutes/seconds are off by 10 to 20 seconds at each mile mark. By the time I get to 25 miles I am off by about 4 minutes. My total time is off by less then 1 minute at the end of the marathon. I have no idea if my mile slits are accurate or not. A few other people running with a GPS experienced similar problems). The next five miles we have splits of 8:05, 7:59, 8:23, 8:02 and 8:24. Over the next few miles we miss a few people but we do see Greg, Ernie, Linda, Ken (Winn) Nick, Donna, Marlene, Dick, Mary, Suzie, RC, Bob, Jim, Janiene, Matt, Kelly, Alex and others. Mile 7 though 11 are 8:07, 8:26, 8:31, 8:15 and 8:07. We're doing fairly well as Janet Canfield passes us at about 11 1/2 miles. It's warming up a little so I call Toni to let her know we will be at the half marathon point in less then 2 miles, in about 18 minutes and we will both be dropping off one of our shirts. Miles 12 and 13 are 8:21 and 8:01. We pass my brothers just short of the half marathon point at the Superdome and they said Sarah, Greg and Ernie are doing fine. Sarah was at about 1:30:00 half marathon split. Sounded like she was out a little too fast but hopefully she can keep the pace. We pass the half marathon point in 1:50:06. I hope we can keep the pace. We pass by some more of my family as they are cheering us on and taking pictures. Miles 14 through 17 are uneventful and I think we are feeling good but I noticed Joe starting to show signs of tiring. Splits are 8:17, 8:22, 8:19 and 8:31. The lead runners start to pass us heading back to the Superdome. The road is in poor shape over the next half of a mile and dodging around the holes hurt my knees a little. Mile 18 split is 8:10 and Joe tells me he needs to back down on the pace. He encouraged me to go but I feel bad leaving him. I know I would not want someone to back off and stay with me, so I decide to go. We had a good time talking and looking for the other SCR marathoners and half marathoners on the course. I was hoping to get a picture of us crossing the finish line together. May be next time. 18 miles was also the point that my back started to act up. My back itself didn't hurt to much but the pain referred to my sciatic nerve and radiating into my hamstring wasn't good. I apparently started to favor my left side and my right groin was starting to hurt pretty good. I thought if I lost pace over the next 8 miles Joe may catch me and we would eventually finish together. I'm now near the point where I was expecting to see Sarah, Greg and Ernie. I was counting the women to see how Sarah was doing relative to the rest of field. When I saw her in second place I was totally surprised. She looked very focused and was surprised when she saw me. I saw Greg next and he was looking good. Ernie came into view at about his 20 mile mark, about 1 mile ahead of me and he said he was starting to feel it. I warned Ernie during some of our long training runs about the last 10K being a race all to itself. It's now a reality. Linda Smith and I passed each other a few times over the next few miles and she finally passed me for good at about 22 miles. Miles 19 though 24 were 8:19, 9:17, ?:??:/?? (GPS said 5:37), 8:50, and 8:56. I then saw Joe, he was about 1 mile behind me. Seeing Dave Farrell, Linda Thompson, Donna Neill, Anne O'Conner, Mary Ramba, Suzie and RC Koontz, Marlene and Dick White on the course helped me through these miles. Closing in mile 24, everyone now should either be far enough ahead or behind me that I don't expect to see any other friends on the course. The last 2 miles was going to be a struggle. I saw Janet Canfield at the 24 mile mark and I think I said hello, I'm not sure. I assumed she is out there to greet all the SCR runners as they approach 24 miles. She starts to jog along side of me and I think she is just getting a status of how I am doing. I finally realize that she is going to run me back to the Superdome. She is keeping me informed of where I am and what to expect on the course and encouraging me along the way, keeping me from thinking about the discomfort. She also tells me that Bill (Canfield) and Bob Panzak are waiting for me at the 25 mile mark. We get to 25 and Bill and Bob join us. I had no expectations of anyone meeting and running with me. Prior to Mardi Gras, no one has ever met me on the course to run back with me. However, I did go back on the course at a couple of marathons to meet others but I never really knew if my presence was actually welcomed and/or appreciated or if I was a bother. I didn't know how I would feel in a similar situation. I now know how welcomed and appreciated I was when they were running with me. When I realized Janet was running me back I felt great, well OK, I felt good. When Bill and Bob met us at 25 miles I was feeling better and I started running on their energy. I heard of running on someone else's energy but never really appreciated the fact that you can actually do that, until it happened to me at Mardi Gras. As much as I wanted to walk and take a break their support carried me to the finish line. As we made our last turn heading to the Superdome at about 25.75 miles I saw Rebecca Sparks. She had a big mile on her face like she always has and she was taking our picture. She gave me a copy of the picture shortly after the marathon, already framed and ready for my desk at home, where it is right now. Mile 25 and 26 splits were 8:57 and 9:05. When Janet, Bill and Bob dropped off at the entrance to the Superdome I was totally choked up. I literally could not breathe. I couldn't get any air until I realized I needed to relax or die before getting to the finish line. It worked, my air passage opened up and I was able to breathe, My family and friends and even the other spectators were yelling Marty, Marty, Marty..... Choke up number 2. I need to relax again so I can breathe, I am too close to the finish line to not breathe. My plan was to do a cartwheel across the finish line or do something memorable. I asked my friend Jeff Kramer prior to going to New Orleans as to how to cross the finish line. He told me to just wait until I get there and do what comes natural. Nothing came to me, my mind went blank, I just ran through the finish line. I am happy with the way I crossed the finish line. That is, still standing, trying to hide my emotions with a smile, in front of my family and very special friends. My winning time was 3:44:06 (chip) 3:44:34 (gun). I placed 5th out of 31 in my age group, placed 206 out of 1,029 male finishers and 245 out of close to 2,100 finishers and in the top 12 percent overall.
I am sorry I didn't say anything to Janet, Bill or Bob that afternoon after the marathon, especially when Bill told me it was an honor to have run that last mile with me. It was MY Honor to have run with Bill, Janet, Bob and every one that came t run with me. To have run with so many of my friends (that includes you Joe) and in the presence of my family was a once in a life time experience. If I do get to run that 100th marathon and if I am able to do the states again, it could not be any better then Mardi Gras 2005.
The winning time in my age group was 3:30:30. I believe I would have gone under 3:30:00 if I didn't get hurt, but it doesn't really matter. I'll try to do it at my next marathon which may be my favorite marathon.
61 marathons completed in 50 states and Washington DC. Next marathon - Don't know - I thought about running Burlington with Linda Thompson in May or Big Sur. Both marathons are closed. Flying Pig was on my list also but it is the same weekend as the Space Walk of Fame. Not sure where to go next. First time in 23 years that I have not had a marathon planned immediately following a marathon.