The half marathon of doom

I wish I could wait to post these until I have the pictures ready, but who knows when my computer will be back, and I know my memory will not last.

So Saturday morning we headed to Dash Point for Andy's half marathon.  We got there and the people setting it up were Evergreen Trail Runs.  I asked Andy if he knew it was a trail run because my heart almost stopped, and he said he knew, but thought it was like a road (like 5 mile drive would be).

Everyone signed in and lined up at the bottom of a trail.  They said there would be 1300 feet of elevation gain!  A lady told us how she ran it before and it was one of the hardest (she was a trail runner) and at one point in the course there are 6 flights of stairs.  You do 2 laps for the half marathon, 4 for the marathon.

Andy took off with the crowd, and Sawyer and I played on the beach until we thought it was time to meet Andy after his first lap.  My heart dropped as I saw people coming out with dirt up their shirts and gashes on their legs and arms.  This course was no joke.  Andy finally came out to the fuel station (I was surprised how long people hung out there, I guess that just shows how hard the course was).  He was sweaty as usual, but looked ok.  He said to come back about that same amount of time to finish the second lap.

We went back to get him at the same amount of time (about 2:30 after it started) and just then the super-runners were emerging (that is like an hour longer than a normal half-marathon).  These were the people that are just skin, bones, and muscles, wearing their "marathon maniacs" shirts and shorts up to their crotches.  I had a feeling it would be a while longer.

We waited.  People were finishing saying "that was as hard as my full street marathon" (my heart dropped), a few more gashed people came out.  A lady came out with a broken rib.  I watched the clock and after 20 minutes, I was sure Andy would be limping out on a broken ankle.

Did I mention that Andy had been running, but the most he had run was 10 miles?  He said after the 10 he felt like he could keep going for awhile, but certainly not something as hard as a FULL MARATHON as people were comparing it to.

Andy finally emerged at 3:10 and nearly collapsed at the finish line.  The first thing he did (after spit a lot) was say "that is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life."  He drank about 2 bottles of water, 2 bottles of nuun, and a bottle of kool-aid.  People kept asking "is this your first trail run? There is another one later that is a bit flatter" Andy says there is no part of him that ever wants to do that again.  He was cruising along and hit "the wall" part of the way into the second lap.  The issue was most of the elevation gain is at the beginning so it takes everything out of you in the first couple miles.

I am so proud of him.  He is super proud of himself.  He is also a little annoyed at himself for not looking into what he was getting himself into first.  We are finding him a REAL half-marathon for him to do soon so he can accomplish his goals realistically.

I have to add that the people that did the full marathon there must be insane.  They were walking quite a bit even after 2 laps, and they had 4 total!

I brought my camera, but since I have no computer to attach it to, I just have a picture of Sawyer on the beach.  I was taking pics of him with my camera, and he said "NO! Phone cheese!" so I got a picture on my phone and was able to upload that to my work computer.
This is him waiting for daddy.