Now that I had set my mind to running my first marathon, I needed to find one to enter. This actually proved to be quite simple, and it would actually feel very fitting.
The year I was bit by a tick and got Lyme Disease, I had been building up my stamina running longer and longer distances until I ran my first half marathon. My goal was to run a half marathon one year, and then run a marathon the next. Afterwards, I expected to stop entering 5 and 10k’s at the rate I was, only entering them from time to time if interested.
While I was toward the latter end of preparing for my half marathon, I had begun researching marathons to enter the following year. I was surprised to see that most of them had a time limit in which to complete the race. From the ones I looked into, the Boston Marathon seemed to have the shortest times to run the marathon, requiring paces I knew I couldn’t keep.
This was already going to be a challenge. I didn’t want to add more pressure on myself with a countdown running in the back of my mind. I wanted to find one as stress free as possible.
What I ended up finding was the Honolulu Marathon, a race that was self-described as lowkey, with no time limit, and locals around the track cheering the participants on no matter how late into the day they were still on the course. This looked to be the perfect marathon to sign up for.
Even when my running plans were derailed, and I couldn’t walk without a pronounced limp, I still felt this was still a possibility. Since there was no time limit, who cared if it took me almost nine hours to complete it by hobbling the 26.2 miles. I could still say I completed a marathon.
So after running a 3 and a half mile and feeling great afterwards, the Honolulu Marathon was the first race I looked up to enter. I wanted to see if after 6 years I’d finally get that second chance at this as my first marathon.
It was perfect! The race was scheduled for December 7th. I’d get to experience the tropical weather right before the holidays in upstate New York. The sixth months would give me just enough time to condition my body and train for that distance…
…if I started right away.