Marathon relay - race results!

What a fun race! They said that 22,000 people were participating, whether it be in the marathon, the half, the relay, the 5k or the kids marathon. It was ridiculous!

I hate getting up early. Like 4:30 kind of early. But, alas, I did. After meeting my parents at a hotel in OKC, we went off to the race. It started at 6:30, and I was the first leg. I had to walk blocks to get into the starting line...and even then, I ducked in an opening of the gates. It took me 10 minutes to get to the starting line after the gun went off!

My race was good. There were a few hills, but the wind was blocked by the thousands of people running ahead of me, so that wasn't a problem. My ankles began hurting pretty bad at mile 3 (I forgot ibuprofen this morning!), but I told myself to ignore it. Walking would hurt it still anyway, right? I kept a good pace and felt pretty good. I made it to the transition at 1:08:55, by my watch. I was actually already messing with the chip to pass off when I stopped it, so maybe a few seconds before that. Official time says 1:09:05, so I wonder if that's what time my dad left the area.

After resting for 5-10 minutes, I got food, my finisher medal and went to wait in line for the shuttle. I was in line - no joke - almost an hour. Only one bus had come and we hadn't seen one in more than a half-hour. Because someone told us it was two miles back, a couple of ladies and I decided to walk. My legs were stiffening up already and I was ready to get out of there. According to MapMyRun.com, it was 2.5 miles. It took us a while, but they kept me company. We made it back at the three-hour mark and found our way to the hamburger place -- I was HUNGRY!

Anyway, I waited and cheered until two members of our team came running along. I joined them in the finish! We saw my parents (our other two relayers) after the finish line. It was really fun to participate. Our team time was 4:31:59. Not half bad, I suppose.

If you're ever in the area, try the Memorial Marathon, even if its for the relay or what not. It's a fun, energetic race. And of course, it makes you think about the 168 lost 15 years ago in the Oklahoma City Bombing.