LAM 2001


Back in August of 1999, I set out to participate and hopefully complete my first marathon. Well, it took nearly 1 1/2 years to get there, but on March 4, 2001, I finished the LA Marathon!

"The marathon is a charismatic event. It has everything. It has drama. It has competition. It has camaraderie. It has heroism. Every jogger can’t dream of being an Olympic champion, but he can dream of finishing a marathon."
-- Fred Lebow

Camraderie

Special thanks has to go to Group 10 of the LA Roadrunners. Here we are getting ready to go on a typical Saturday morning long slow distance run. The conversations and encouragment of my fellow group 10 members made the journey possible AND enjoyable.




Ted, Naoko, Zeny and Andy. All marathon veterans at the March 3 pre-marathon breakfast
Karen, George, Andy, Barbara, Pam and Lindsey. The ones in the yellow shirts were our devoted pace leaders.
Thanks a bunch Barbara, Karen and Lindsey!!

Kathleen, an engineer and first time marathoner
March 4, race day! Annie raised over $30,000 for educational scholarships. Janet is a graduate student at UCLA. All of us were first timers. The forcast was for rain but it held off until the late afternoon. Whew!


Bonnie is a power walker and she finished well before I did!
I met Bonnie when I was doing the Hearst Castle Half-Marathon back in January 2001. She had a LA Roadrunner shirt and we started to chat. We finished the 1/2 marathon crossing the finish line in the Hearst Castle parking lot just a few seconds apart. She beat me then too!

March 10, post-Marathon party! Standing (l to r) Rene, Barbara, Pam, George, Judy. Seated: Mike and Lindsey
Saying thanks to our pace leaders, Barbara, Lindsey and Karen. Leroy presenting flowers to Karen.


Race Day March 4, 2001

At the start line shuffling along to the sound of Randy Newman's "I Love LA!"



"You don’t run 26 miles...you run one mile 26 times."
-- Jerry Lynch

Getting a little tired.... Here is a humorous sign at mile 16 on Highland to keep us going.



"If you feel bad at 10 miles, you’re in trouble. If you feel bad at 20 miles, you’re normal. If you don’t feel bad at 26 miles, you’re abnormal."
-- Rob de Castella



I have to say, at mile 16 back at that funny sign, my feet were just beginning to complain. By mile 18 and the turn onto Hollywood Blvd., my legs were starting to ache. So.... I was starting to feel bad somewhat before mile 20! And by mile 21 when I took this picture, I was almost ready to give up. But I told myself.... FIVE (5) more miles to go! And so here is where the race really becomes a mental one.

The finish line!!!

It was unforgetable going down the hill on Wilshire.... on both sides are crowds behind the railings clapping and cheering for us (?)! Then that last turn onto Flower.... and we see the finish line!!! The official winners crossed the line 4 hours before us. But for each of us who set out on the journey, we experienced something very special when we crossed that line.



"I run because it’s so symbolic of life. You have to drive yourself to overcome the obstacles. You might feel that you can’t. But then you find your inner strength, and realize you’re capable of so much more than you thought."
-- Arthur Blank



"In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say ‘I have finished.? There is a lot of satisfaction in that."
-- Fred Lebow

quotes from Karen's running page

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