Hunter Morrical, 2017
My experience in Dublin was nothing short of incredible. First, I wish the Dublin Marathon would have fallen on a Tuesday or Wednesday... or sometime other than the Sunday morning after a wild Saturday night. I had always believed that I could run a marathon if I desired to, however, I don’t know if I would have ever fully committed to one if I hadn’t been given the opportunity to run in Dublin by Pub 317. The race was challenging, to say the least.
Mile 1 to 5: You feel great - the crowds are cheering you on – this marathon is going to be a breeze. Mile 5 to 10: You still feel great; crowds are a little quieter, but you’re running through Phoenix Park and it’s absolutely stunning; the marathon is still going to be a breeze. Mile 13.1: You’re about ready to be done running… the problem is that you’re about 10 miles away from you started and the city is shut-down for the event so there’s no way to get a cab back – you’re going to have to run it. Mile 13 to 20: Mostly just pain; crowds are cheering for you but you’re mostly just concerned with finding a child handing out candy to help boost your energy; you begin to realize that this journey may end up taking your life.
Mile 20 to 25: Against all odds, this stretch has become more painful than the last; I grab a beer from a group of guys cheering on the racers and naturally… chug it! A beer later and my hopes of actually finishing have been restored. Mile 25 to 26.2: I feel pretty bad but I can’t stop now; the crowd is loud and there’s a ton of people cheering on the Montana boys; I’d still like to talk to this cute girl who yelled out “Montana! I’m from Salt Lake!!” – I would have stopped running to talk, but I honestly couldn’t feel my legs and I still wasn’t sure I was going to make it.
I cross the finish line, I hug Chase (one of my best friends who traveled the entire way with me, ran the marathon, and went drink for drink with me the whole trip), cry a little bit, convince a woman to take a cheesy picture of us finishing, and hobble off to the bars for another wild night. Again, it was an incredible experience that I’ll surely never forget thanks to Pub 317!