My first trip report!!!!!! Sorry its so long!!!!!!!!!!
We left for Columbus Ohio early Friday morning and got there 22:30 hours later!!!!
We stayed at the Holiday Inn outside town and had a huge room with a Jacuzzi tub, nice hotel and pet friendly too.
Package pick up was at the convention centre, where we where charge $7 to park. The “expo” was terrible; I guess I’m spoiled by Disney.
Tee shirts are none wicking (Chris has told me that they are, looking at the fabric I thought they wern't) and you could not change your size!!!!
I would have to lose at least 60lbs to get mine on!!!!
Nothing else in the bag goodie wise except a coupon for a free crispy cream doughnut, made my DD happy.
Race Day:
We where given special parking and where told we had to be ready to leave the car park at 7am as we where getting a police escort.
Well we where ready and the police did not turn up!!!!
People who had done the race before just went on there own, but as I did not know where to go I was told to wait.
There was one other racer who was made to wait, and we waited and waited.
In the end the cycle escorts said that they would take use down the sidewalk, both of use where on lean steers, no sidewalks for us.
They then asked us if we had lights…..who has lights on a racing chair for a race!!!!
They finally asked us if we would risk going on the main road without lights with the traffic to get to the start, so off we went.
For a little while the two escorts stayed one in front one behind us, but they soon decided to hang back and talk to each other why we went on ahead!!!!
To get to the start we had to go over the kerb, the guy I cranked up with was a below keen amputee and he got up and lifted his chair over and walked it to the start line.
I needed a lift and as my DH was not allowed to come with us I had no one to help, the escorts grabbed my chair and lifted me off the side walk and in to the start carrel, just as the national anthem was being played.
Off we went, I just got over the timer mats and stopped, my escort pushed me and I went a little way and then stopped again, asked what was wrong and I said I don’t know I was fine until they lifted me, he pushed me once more and when I stopped again he cycled off and left me in the road waiting for the runners to start!!!!!
A lady for the crowed gave me her phone so I could cal DH to come a help, when another lady came running out to me and she was the wife of a cranker in the race!!!
She took one look at my chair and saw that they had bent my bumper into my wheel so it was acting as a break, she was not strong enough to move it, so two men for the crowd came over to help her and they got me going.
Once I was on my way the crowed who had watched all of this where fantastic with there cheers and shouts of encouragement, but I did not have an escort, I left the start at 19mph and was on a mission to hunt down the other chairs, suddenly I was joined by a man on a cycle, I knew he was not an escort ad he was not wearing the right clothes.
It turns out that he was a pacer for the runners and was pacing the last half of the marathon; he saw what happened to me and grabbed a bike to catch me up and escort me through.
We where doing great, I was up to 21mph and had overtaken 2 chairs, a police car came up behind us and told us to move to the right, I got over to the right and my escort went left, the police car cut the corner and ran me off the road into the curb, I was shock up but we went on again, caught enough chair and cranked on.
My escort told me to turn right, so I did and off down the road we went, to be shouted at that we where going the wrong way!!!!!!
The official came and pulled me back as it was too tight for me to turn and told me off for going off course!!!!
My escort apologised he was thinking he was on the last part of the course, the part he paces for. I was not mad at him at all as he was only trying to help me, but I was mad at the official escorts.
Finally an official escorts came over and asked if he was ok to stay with me, J said he was, and I’m glad he said yes.
We carried on and there was a long stretch when the wind was ice cold and hit you like a wall, I couldn’t wait to turn the corner but it seemed to take for ever. On this stretch the first men from the ½ marathon over took me, I asked J what they ate for breakfast as I wanted some!!!
We caught one more chair after the turn and as the runners had gone another way to us we where the only competitors on that stretch, we where cranking along when we saw a car heading towards us on the course, J put himself in front of me, so that if the car did hit it would hit him and started shouting, I thought that the car was going to hit him, it swerved just before off the road and J shouted at him as we went passed, he also shouted to the volunteer who was on traffic, the only problem was that we where going through a shopping high st. and they had one volunteer trying to stop cars for entering the course. This car had pulled out from a shops car park, not a road so there where no police there to direct traffic!!!!
On we went and I had a chair in sight……and he stayed that way for several miles, evenly I caught and over took him at mile 25.
J said that he had to be at mile 13 to take over from the running pacer at a certain time and that her would stay with me for as long as possible, he stayed with me till just past mile 25.
He was a great guy and if he had not help me out I think I would have done the race on my own, people who know him shouted out to him on the course asking him what he was doing!!!!
The crowd support was fantastic so was the entertainment music everywhere.
People where surprised to see a “girl” coming through and got even more vocal as out of 25 chairs only 4 where women!!!!
I came through the finish line and was expecting to see my DH with Tinkerbell to do her test, but instead I was met by medical and I was taken into first aid, but they would not let my DH or Tinkerbell in to me.
I kept telling them that I was fine expect being freezing and that if I could just warm up I could go around again!!!!
After an hour I had convinced them that all I needed was to get back to the hotel to have a warm bath and a hot drink.
The Dr. said that she was concerned about my feet and that if they did not warm up after my bath then I had to go to ER as I had minor frostbite.
By the time I got back to my DH Tinkerbell did the test and I had a seizer in the car.
If they had let her do het job I could have stayed in first aid and had it there!!!!
I have never been so cold in my life, my shot blocks where so hard they where all most impossible to eat and my electrolyte drink froze in my drinking tubes!!!!!!!
there was alos ice on parts of the roads!!!!
I managed to come second in the women’s division, and even if I had not had the big delay at the start I would have not have won, the winner was amazing,
but I would have BQ, the only reason I went to this race. In the end I finished in 2:28:23 and my BQ is 2:25:59.
I was told that there would be no presentation at the finish and that I will be sent my award.
I also won a sprit award and I found out online that the winners where to attend a VIP event, the only thing was that no one told me about it!!!
So I missed it, apparently it was on Wednesday. If they had let me know about it I would have attended.
I am going to write to the organisers about my experience.
I do not know if I would ever do this race again, even tough it is a nice course.
I just want to have one race where nothing goes wrong…….anyone know how to un-jinx me!!!!
I need to go look at your pictures.
Good luck!!
