Marathon day

Sunday…the big day. Unlike most marathons, the World Championships Marathon didn’t start until 11:15am (so it could be on live primetime in Japan) so we actually got to sleep in a bit the day of the race. Paige was at the athlete hotel and was headed to the course at around 8:30am. We got up, grabbed some breakfast, and then we headed out to meet her at the warm-up area. Marathon mornings always involve a lot of hurry up and wait, partly because of the logistics of moving athletes and fans to the starting line area. This morning was no different and we got to our designated meeting spot well ahead of schedule. That was fine; better ahead than behind! One difference that did exist from other marathons is that Greg did not have a credential to be in the race area with Paige. Coach credentials are handed out judiciously at events like this and the Olympics; since Greg had only one athlete competing at the WCs, he was only able to get a practice track credential. It was not a big deal for our event though, since the marathon was held completely on the city streets of Berlin and we found a good spot to meet Paige.

Paige arrived on the bus and got checked in and then came out of the athlete tent for one final coach/athlete pow-wow. She was nervous (rightfully so!) but Greg encouraged her to find a quiet place, put on her headphones, listen to her music and get in the zone. With that final word of advice, we headed over to our spot at the 5k mark. The marathon course was a 10k loop that the athletes ran four times and then added on an additional 2k at the end. Standing where we were we got to see Paige and the USA women 4 times; Greg dashed back and forth to another point on the course and then ran around some more for the last 2k so he ended up seeing Paige 10 times during the race! I love course set-ups like this because it allows spectators to follow the race more and draws people into the drama and exertion of the event. You wait in anticipation each time the athletes come around to see how positions have changed since the last time you saw them. Who is suffering, who is surging, who made the move and put the hammer down?! Very exciting!

Paige ran a great race for the day (2:37:11, 30th place) given the training time she had leading up to the event. Not many folks know that she was in great shape in early April, ready to run the Boston Marathon, when all of the sudden some cartilage in her knee decided to dislodge and float around her knee cap! Painful, debilitating, mentally frustrating…race plans dashed. Running stopped immediately as it was too painful to continue, emotions ran high as we waited for a diagnosis and then finally the cause of the pain was found and the good folks at Summit Orthopedics in Flagstaff did arthroscopic surgery on her knee to get out those niggling pieces of cartilage. A few weeks later Greg got the call from USATF that Paige was being offered a spot on the WC Marathon team if she was healthy. Luckily she had returned to easy running and cross-training not too long after surgery so her fitness was good and after a couple more weeks marathon training began.

After the race we went back to our designated meeting spot and waited with Paige’s parents for Paige to appear. Overall, the USA women’s team performed well enough to place 5th in the team competition. Desiree Davila from the Hansons training group ran a fantastic race and improved her personal best by several minutes! While we are all proud of Paige and feel she ran a great race and had a great experience, I know she is unsatisfied with how it turned out. While the first goal was to make the team, she did not accomplish her time or place goals in the event and that, of course, leaves her hungry for more (a true competitor!). She’s on a much deserved break right now but if I know Paige she’ll be chomping at the bit to get back to running and all the 1%s that are necessary to make her stronger and faster. She does not intend for this to be her first and final chapter on the world scene—I think her story has just begun!