My Boston Marathon
When I entered the Boston Marathon I knew my changes of winning were close to zero. Despite the propaganda perpetuated in fairy tales, we tortoises do not win races. Nike has no reptile sponsorship program. There is no Ferrari F50 Tortoise. Like most marathon runners, I wasn’t in it to win. I just wanted to finish.
Well, finish I did. To my surprise, I shattered the world tortoise record by a full 14 minutes with an official time of 5 years, 7 months, 27 days, 9 minutes and 8.326 seconds!
I had carbo-loaded the night before but would those calories last the years I needed them to? I didn’t know. Did I overtrain and inadvertently set myself up for injury? Again, I didn’t know. All I knew, as I crossed over the starting line that brisk April morning, was that I now had a race to finish.
As night began to fall I looked back and, still able to see the starting line, got depressed. I was already exhausted and had at least another 5 years of running still ahead of me. For the first time I began to think that maybe I had bit off more than I could chew. But I didn’t quit. I lowered my head to cut the wind resistance and forged ahead, determined to make it to the end of the block by dawn.
The toughest part of a marathon, as most runners will tell you, is the mental. Unlike team sports, a runner is alone with nothing but his thoughts. What was I thinking about as I ran? My family, mostly. How wonderful and supportive they had been with my decision to enter the race. It was a tough call, knowing I’d miss seeing my kids grow up. Some tortoises may live to be 100 but that’s pretty rare. Most of us live about 25 years so this was a major sacrifice.
My wife and I made plans for her and the kids to be at the 15 mile marker to cheer me on. When I reached that point, however, they were nowhere to be seen. A thousand thoughts raced through my head - Were they okay? Did she meet another guy? It was pretty disheartening and, again, I thought about quitting. But I had been running for 3 years at that point and had a pretty good rhythm going. If I stopped I knew I’d never get started again. So I kept going. I found out later that they were late leaving the house and ended up reaching the 15 mile mark 2 weeks after I had already passed.
Will I run again? I don’t think so. I’m a world record holder now. Might as well quit while I’m on top, right? I’m gonna take some time off and get to know my family again. And, of course, wait for Nike to call.
Comments (4)
Tortoise, it is obvious we are not in the same species because you are CRACKED. You scooted around Beantown for FIVE winters? What an idiot.
Scooter, pay no attention to catcalls from the cheap seats. You have every right to be proud of a remarkable achievement, and deserve recognition. So what if you are a little pokey? You made a tortoise world’s record, and that’s what counts.
RUN AGAIN OK? IT WOULD BE AS COOL AS TOOTHPASTE IF YOU BROKE YOUR OWN RECORD.
I know a tortoise who ran 1 minute, and about 22.4 seconds faster than that! You are a lier! Shame on the tortoise family you live in and let Nike, goddess of victory take your meaning of victory and shove it down your garbage can, where it belongs! I respect that you got a good time, but do not lie. Never lie.