Bucket List

I can now cross an item off my bucket list. I have won a marathon! Well, I was the first female finisher so I didn't win the whole thing but good enough. This past Sunday I ran my second marathon in two weeks. I did the Seoul International Marathon, which was very big and this past weekend I did the Korea Open Marathon, which wasn't as big. It had a 10K and half marathon along with it and three of the other teachers I work with ran the 10K.

The marathon wasn't very big but it is very well known in Korea. They have a lot big name sponsors and get a lot of press. As I was getting lined up to run, I took a look around the start corral and noticed there weren't that many female runners and thought, "hey, I could place in this marathon." But since I had just ran one two weeks before, I didn't know how my legs would hold up. I started out at a very comfortable pace and just wanted to enjoy the run and run my own race. I noticed I was one of four women near the front. I thought a fourth place finish wouldn't be too bad. But then I started keeping pace with the lead female and the competitive edge in me really came out. I knew I had the ability to beat her and I wasn't going to let the opportunity to win a marathon slip by. We stayed very close to each other through the half way point and then I started picking up the pace a bit. I didn't want to kick it in too soon so I slowed my pace back down to hers. But after about 2 miles I said screw it and I picked up my pace and she couldn't stay with me.

There were three turn arounds on the course. We did one turn around at 12k, one at 28k, and the last one at 35k. By the turn around at the 28thk I knew I had a gap on her but I didn't want to slow down because I didn't know what kind of a kick she had in her. I hit the 32k mark and knew I had a 10k left. I knew I could start picking up the pace even more. My legs were killing me but my breathing was good so I knew I had it in me. The last 10k were killer! By the last turn around at the 35thk I started feeling like I was going to throw up but at this point I knew I widened my gap on her. But I still didn't want to let up at all. I kicked it in a bit more when I saw the 41K marker and didn't let up. As I turned the corner to Olympic Stadium I could see behind me and saw there was no woman in sight. I knew I had it won and all I could think about was breaking the tape at the end! As I made the final stretch to the finish line I saw my friends waiting for me! They were cheering so loud and ran to the finish line as I broke the tape and my own PR. I ran a 3:08.04, an 11second Personal Best!

I have no idea how I did it but it felt great!! My friends ran over to hug me and congratulate me! It was so great. There were cameras everywhere and people speaking to me in Korean! One woman started talking to me in the little English she knew and interviewed me for some Korean TV station. It was awesome! But the best part was the award ceremony. They gave awards for the top 5 men and top 5 women. Every other winner was Korean and much older than me. The four other women winners were anything but friendly and I thought the second place woman was going to start swinging at me any minute! But it's not my fault she doesn't run faster! I got a trophy and a $500 gift card to KSwiss, which was one of the sponsors, and two other running type stores they have here. I would have liked cash much more but I'll take it!

The only thing that would have made this experience any better would have been if my family could have been there. But my "Korean" family was there. They are more than just my co-workers, they are my family!