Those who have read my story may recall that I'm one of 4 people who have finished all the Marine Corps Marathons in Washington, DC, starting in 1976. I'm the youngster of the group at 66. The others are 70, 72 and 74. The 37th race was last Sunday and we all finished, but not in our usual order. Traditionally, the oldest guy, who has fast genes, finished well ahead of the rest of us. I was usually second behind him. The race has nicknamed us the Groundpounders, a play on the slang for a Marine infantryman.

The weather was fine. Hurricane Sandy didn't affect us. I may have started too fast and started to feel bad around mile 8. I had to resort to taking short walking breaks, which I've never done in a marathon. Walking is standard procedure for me in longer races, but I was dismayed to have to start in a marathon.

At the halfway point at 13 miles I had the same feeling most have at that point. You feel like you've expended 75% of your physical and mental energy, but you're only 50% done. All you do is keep slogging. Around 18 miles I passed an old scrawny guy who ran with a hunched over gait, but was still moving well. The back of his T-shirt had a hand lettered message: "A Co 1st Bn. 5th Marines KOREA". The guy was into his 80's! I told myself to quit bitching and keep running.

Around 21 Miles I had the feeling many have at that point. To quote the great running writer George Sheehan, "The body has forgotten how and the mind can't remember why." Then the most amazing thing happened. I caught the fast guy! We chatted for a bit and he told me to run ahead, since I looked strong. He wasn't hurt, just having an age related slow day. He's a real nice guy and I felt badly about passing him, but not for long. It was a race after all.

That energized me and I ran most of the last 5 miles. At the finish line the announcer didn't have to say, "And here's today's Groundpounders Winner". I said it to myself. My time was 5:37.

Will



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2012 03:57PM by Will.

WILL!
YOU ROCK!!!


Carla

Will, that's AWESOME!!! Way to drag your "gunny sack" across the finish line!!!!

I am so proud of you! Always in fact.

Hey Will, I just step back on because I was sad and saw this. You are so cool!!

Amazing!! O_O

Mare ... I'm glad you "stepped back on" because Will deserves another round of atta-boys!

Awesome job dude. I can hardly walk so I'm VERY impressed.

Great job Will! Even though my congrats is kinda late, I do hope you're still basking in the glory of that great accomplishment!

Soak it up......that is what Marines are made of......at least you didn't get smoked for being too slow......way to go.......our HD hero.........
Mike

Everyday I walk and take supplements because of Will. You deserve that heads up and want you to know you make a difference.

I liked this post so much it inspired me to ask Will to do a regular column about living proactively. We're still working out the organization and there's a problem with the software's handling of pictures (we upgraded and the it doesn't recognize the old picture links), but I think this is going to be great!

That's wonderful.