Still Got The T-

The 2008 Boston Marathon – Iraq was a 13.1 mile loop run twice around COB Adder, Tallil. The race began at 4 am and I finished a little before 8 that morning. Of the 77 full marathon runners to complete the race I finished 19th, but the fastest runners completed the marathon just under 2:50.

The race itself began promptly at 4 am or 0400 GMT +3 for the military types. My race day began about 0320 when I rolled out of by bunk and ate a couple of oat meal cookies. I brought the chewy oatmeal raisin treats back to my trailer the night before from the DFAC. Also, I carried a few of gel packs in a waist band pouch and ate those at miles 17 and 20 and 22 of the run.

If you have never lined up for a marathon at 4 am in the middle of a combat zone you don’t know what you’ve been missing. In the back of my head I kept picturing Robert Duval in a blue cavalry hat spouting, “Charlie don’t run,” as I stood on the line that morning. It was a surreal experience hearing the runner’s chatter before the race began. It was the same stuff you hear before every race every else in the world. Someone was talking about the all the miles they ran, another runner was contenplainting all the weight they lost in preparation for race day, and most everyone was deliberating their expected time, sub 3:30 or anything under 4 hours. I had only been in Iraq for a couple weeks at that time and I was kind of concerned about indirect fire during the run. Looking back a month now, I realize the whole thing was weird.

The wind that day was terrible and the roads were rough, most are dirt and scattered with small rocks. At about miles 3 into it we were off the main post. It was pitch black outside with the exception of a few chemical lights lining the road and the distant illumination of a bonfire at an aid station or water point – yes, I said bonfires at the aid stations. Actually it was creepy and I felt like I was so far from civilization, the world was over, and we were all lost souls running wildly down the last road to safety.

My 13.1 came before 6 am. There were a lot of halfers. As a mater of fact when I completed the first loop it seemed no one kept running except me. I saw a couple of marathoners in front of me but I passed them about mile 17. This was the first race I wasn’t passed on the back-half. There weren’t thousand of runners to pace and thousands spectators lining the streets. There was no Heartbreak Hill between miles 20 and 21 and unfortunately no Boston College coeds to cheer the runners on to the finish. I didn’t even have to post a qualifying time to enter, but there was a 112^th BAA medal at the end. I hung is around my neck and walked quietly back to my trailer when it was over.

I am very glad I ran it since I didn’t run the LR marathon this year. Marathoning in Iraq is something I might not do again. The next race I run, I want it to be after months of planning, prepping, and eating right. This race I just showed up and ran. Literally, I arrived in Iraq on 1 April then ran the race on the 19th. As a mater of fact, the day of the marathon I was briefing the squadron command and staff by 1020 that morning, less then 2 and a half hours after the run. I was barely standing but I did it all the same.

I have lined up for a lot of races over the past few years: some 5Ks, 10Ks, several marathons, and even a half-marathon or two. Hell, I have line up in Olympic Trail qualifying races. I have been on the line with some amazing runners and some fast runners, but I don’t think I have ever lined up with better people then I did that morning.

The Boston Marathon is was not, but I still got the t-shirt.

 

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