After seeing so much inspiration and dedication on these boards, and learning about so many people's accomplishments and goals...I think the time is right to go back to last January and recogize what my running buddy Amy went through...so that she and others can really see how far she has come in such a short time and to also put proper meaning and significance to this years race.
I never really gave a real race report, only summarized my observations and what the race meant to me. Although words can never describe the actual events, I've tried my best and here is what one person went through as best as I can remember it (there are so many images still fresh in my mind):
Amy had really done no training (at least from a running perspective) in the month and a half leading up to the marathon itself. Her leg injury was so severe that she had difficulty walking, for example she posted this on 11-27-06:
I am in a lot of pain right now....and what I thought was just training aches has become an intense pain in the quad and groin area and unfortunately I'm in pain simply walking right now.
This really held true right up to marathon morning.
As we made the long walk over to the starting corrals, you could tell the nerves were really setting in. In her mind, I know she didn't feel prepared...and yet there we were, ready to take on this daunting task. 26.2 miles lay before us...forget the fact that it was in WDW...we were just focused on seeing IF she could run. With her stomach really bothering her, and her leg in slight pain, the fireworks went off and we crossed the starting line.
The first couple miles went fairly well, all things considered. After a pit stop in World Showcase during mile 3, we made our way back out Epcot Center Drive for the long trek to the Magic Kingdom.
It was around mile 5 that her pain really started setting in. It was not only hampering her ability to run (or even walk), but was causing her stomach to continue to be upset. We took many additional walk breaks as needed and made a couple more pit stops (details excluded
)
She was hurting really bad at the 9 mile mark, near the Transportation and Ticketing Center. It was there that she first started vocalizing the fact that she didn't think she would be able to finish. The pain was radiating throughout her body and there was still 17 more miles to go. We thought maybe getting to the Magic Kingdom would help...it had been just road and trees for so long...maybe seeing the castle would rejouvenate her spirits and provide a much needed push.
We completed mile 10 and then made our way (via side CM only access
) up Main St. USA, around Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, and back through the castle and finally out Frontierland (where the parade is staged
) It seemed to brighten her spirit a bit, but as fast as that relief came, the pain came back even quicker and more severe. I really thought that during mile 12, from the MK past the Grand Floridian, she was going to throw in the towel. The temperature was starting to climb and it was a long, unshaded 5 miles to go until we made it to the Animal Kingdom. She continued repeatedly with "I can't do this...you need to go on...it hurts so bad". She was walking with a severe limp and running at that point was entirely out of the question.
Words can't accurately describe what it's like to be out there, a few hours in and not even halfway done yet...knowing more hours of pure pain and struggle lie in wait. It would have been easy for her to quit. At that point, there was nothing left to prove, but something inside of her made her push on. Although she talked of failure, her heart and incredible determination were not about to let her give up out there.
In case you didn't know, the absolute worst place to be in WDW is on Bear Island Road during mile 15 when the sun is scorching the pavement, the smell of animal you know what is wafting through the air and the marathon personnel start telling you to "keep your cups because they are out of them up ahead" in the same breath that they tell you "we're out of water, waiting on someone to come with more". It was as close to hell as you could imagine. Somewhere out there, she almost completely threw in the towel again...now facing the high temperatures on top of the inability to comfortably do anything and sickness in her stomach. The goal then became to make it into Animal Kindgom and buy some water at a stand.
Luckily, we were replenished with water right before entering (at mile marker 16). We had a goal of running through each park and surviving the rest...so we entered AK in Asia and jogged on the cone marked path (the park was open) from Everest thru Dinoland and back out again. There were a lot of people viewing the race at the entrance to AK (mile 18)...where our journey nearly ended in catastrophe. A runner darted in front of Amy, and stopped to hug a spectator...causing Amy to trip over her stopped leg. Luckily again, the injury wasn't severe (maybe it was, but the rest of her pain superceeded the ankle pain) and Amy got up, brushed off and trudged on.
Thoughts of "I can't do this" started to turn to "I just want to finish" as we struggled through miles 19-22 on the way to MGM. It was just road and overpass...and a mentally demoralizing switchback during mile 21. It was hot. No shade out there for us, and no clouds to cover up the sun.
The pain never subsided, but she somehow found a mental place where she could manage it...taking one step at a time...and continued to talk of the finish. She had made it that far, we knew we wouldn't be swept...only a few more miles left.
MGM came and went and we eventually found ourselves jogging around the world showcase and finally across that finish line. There was no victory celebration as she quickly found a spot on the fence to stop and try to recover a bit. A volunteer offered a wheelchair as she noticed her severly limping, but in true gutsy display, Amy declined it.
That day I was witness to the single most incredible display of determination, willpower and mental strength that I have ever known and will probably ever see again. I don't know how she did it, but she completed the goal she had set for herself 10 months earlier. She made a commitment to do the marathon with me and she saw it through despite the intense pain associated with the foot, leg and hip injuries.
I was as proud as anyone can be of someone that day and continue to be amazed by her incredible "no quit" attitue and her tenacity to achieve her goals.
So this year is a sort of redemption. After taking a month off after completing the marathon, she was ready to run Disney again to avenge her "time" and run it "right". To take in more of the surroundings and have it be the fun, Disney-esque type of event that it is.
She's the most inspiring person I've ever met, always willing to help out others with their issues, and I'm so proud to call her my friend and running buddy.
Thank you Amy for being who you are. I would not be where I am today without your support and the inspiring qualites that you possess.
In closing, I'd like to mention that the race is not really as horriffic as I may have described. I don't want anyone to shy away from ever doing one if that is their goal. A marathon is a test of personal strength...both physical and mental...designed to push you to your limits and then beyond. You find out a lot about yourself out there...it strips you down to your core...you find out what you are really made of. We learned so much about ourselves in those few hours, life lessons that we will carry with us forever. We are stronger and better people as a result.
Here's to an injury free and fun filled ride this year
Thanks to everyone for listening to me ramble...I know this was long but I think it's a story that needs to be told. It really didn't capture what took place out there, but I did the best I could
:
Have a great weekend
HOLY FLAMING POP-TARTS BATMAN!!!!!
today !
Hope you are feeling better today. WOW - you are like the Energizer bunny, you just keep going and going and going. Even when you're sick, you stick to your exercise schedule (or training routine or whatever the appropriate marathon running term is) - I am so impressed! When I get sick, I tend to go for extra rest because I have pushed through it before only to end up sicker than I was when I started out - but maybe that's because I am fighting a chronic illness already before being hit with something else. At any rate, my hat is off to you for continuing to work out when you just aren't feeling it - you have a constitution of steel!!
Definitely peaked someones curiosity...details...DETAILS!! 
It was funny...and yet not so much once the pain set in. So that's it....me being stupid. What's new 
that you don't have any major pain from this and you recover quickly!!
tissues, please 
, and there wasn't a medication that would work for me. Having adverse reaction to the meds, I was told that surgery was an option and perhaps a necessity...albeit it a horrible one. Nobody wants to face a colon resection ever. The worst part of all this was my father's best friend had died of this disease, soon after a similar surgery, and that fact alone scared the heck out of me. The moment when I asked the doctor if I'd be able to have kids and he looked at me straight in the face and said..."It doesn't look good right now. Your body can't nourish itself, it can't nourish a fetus. But anything can happen, you can't think about that now. You need to focus on getting healthy first." 
