Mary Hoagland, 2016
I am the kind of person who never wins things! The luck of the Irish was with me though after the 10k Run to the Pub in March. For my sister and I, it was a rough race. I had started running again after many years off and it wasn't coming back as fast as i had hoped. With a couple of 5ks in the summer before i took the winter off and seemed to loose all of my progress. This 10k was also the longest distance I had attempted. It was difficult for me to run a whole mile without taking walk breaks. With all of the excitement and wonderful people that surround RttP, we were carried through and finished the race. Instant pride!
Then the matter of sticking around for the drawing. There were so many people and we were exhausted and wanted to go home. I just remember seeing people leaving and saying "Look, our chances of going to Ireland are getting better all the time!". After drawing what seemed like a million bib numbers, no one came up to claim the first prize, my number was announced. I looked at it in disbelief for a bit before those around me yelled to go up before another number was drawn.
That night I let it all sink in. on Sunday I found a marathon training plan and on Monday I had my first training run. Having that kind of motivation took away all of the doubt in my mind and I decided that I would get it done. There were plenty of times on the way that I asked myself what I was doing, but I couldn't back out now! Over the next 7.5 months I put in over 700 miles, participated in at least 10 races and gained the confidence needed to tackle the marathon.
My fiance and I arrived in Dublin on Thursday, got to take in some sights of the town and become more familiar with the history of the people and the area. On Sunday morning before the marathon I realized that all of this sightseeing had come at a cost, my feet were sore! After a few minutes of freaking out, wondering if I could finish the race, it dawned on me that I was here to take it all in and have fun, not break any world records,
The race started with runners packed together like sardines. There were 19,500 entries. I thought RttP was big! Soon the people spread out and the fun began. I trusted in my training and the amazing Irish spectators. Through the course we never went more than maybe 1/4 mile with out some one cheering for us. It was an amazing feeling to accomplish this goal and have the support of my friends, family, community and complete strangers.
This opportunity really has changed my life in many ways. I didn't want to run alone either so I drug others into the sport as well. Thank you Tyler Wilkinson, Pub 317, Rttp and all of the volunteers and participants. This is a wonderful event and our community is better because of it.