First, a little disclaimer. As an experienced runner I have run through my last five pregnancies. My midwives have been very encouraging of running through pregnancy to include full marathons. And I am very careful to listen to my body when I run during pregnancy. If you are pregnant and want to keep running seek the advice of your doctor or midwife first. Every woman is different, and every pregnancy is different.
Let’s start with a confession. I was not AT ALL looking forward to the Mountain Man Memorial March in Gatlinburg, TN last weekend. In fact, I was pretty much dreading it. If you’ve been around Run Determined very long you know my favorite running partner (my husband) and I have been in a sort of running “funk” since we moved to a new area nearly two years ago, so our training for this race was minimal. On top of that, I’m 24 weeks pregnant with our ninth baby and I’ve hit that part of pregnancy where I just never really feel very good. But we’d signed up for the race, and I was determined to at least make an attempt.
My alarm clock blared WAY too early! Our two year old had climbed in our bed sometime during the night and spent much of the night with her elbows and knees stabbing us in the back and the rest of the night flipping and flopping all over our bed. Oh the joys of marathon running when you have small children!
To add insult to injury we left the hotel anticipating some race day traffic and parking issues. Instead, we hit one stop light and parked right next to the start line. Even after we picked up our packets and took them back to the car we still had over an hour to kill. You know what I was thinking….I could have hit snooze for a whole hour!
In that hour we milled around and learned a little bit more about the race we were about to run. The inaugural Mountain Man Memorial March was run in 2008 to honor 1LT Frank B. Walkup, IV who was killed in action in 2007. The race continues to honor service members who’ve been killed in action. It also raises money to support Gold Star Families who’ve lost a family member in defense of America.
As we waited for the race to start, we met one gentleman and his wife whose son had been killed in combat several years earlier. The man had never run a race before, but he’d poured his heart and soul into training for the Mountain Man so he could run it in honor of his son. Later that evening I realized I didn’t even know their names, but their story and their sacrifice will forever be in my heart.
Start time finally arrived and we knew this was going to be a long, hard race. We decided from the beginning to run a slow, deliberate race and just enjoy the scenery and the time together. Our 15 year old son, Drew, was running as well, and as usual he took off ahead of us in the first tenth of a mile. We knew we wouldn’t see him again until the finish.
The half marathon course was a straight out and back. The full marathon course ran with the half until the turn around point for the half. That’s when the full went up into the mountains and some crazy inclines. About mile five we started seeing some people from my husband’s work. They’d made it to the half turn around point and were in the second half of their race. Many of them shouted words of encouragement to us like, “you’re almost to the half way point,” or, “the turn around is just at the top of the hill.” Obviously, they didn’t even consider the fact that we might actually be doing the full and that our race was just getting started. I guess they didn’t expect to see a pregnant woman run a full marathon 😉
The scenery along the course was beautiful.
Once we passed the turn around point for the half marathon, the crowds thinned out considerably. Beautiful scenery surrounded us for the next several miles. We slowed down to walk past a serene pasture with horses that we knew our kids would love. We enjoyed the cool temperatures and the time together as we talked about our kids, our future plans, home projects that needed to be completed, and whatever other random topics came to mind.
The official race website describes the terrain as, “made up of flat stretches, rolling hills, and steep inclines.” Let’s just say once we moved past the 10 mile point “steep inclines” felt more like “insurmountable mountains.” This race has some killer hills that go on fooooreeeeeverrrrr!
As we made it to the half way point we were running way slower than our typical marathon pace, but we had planned for that because of the hills and my pregnancy. My big concern was that the aid stations would run out of food and water because we were at the back of the pack. As the race progressed I realized I shouldn’t have worried about the aid stations. Every single station from the beginning of the race to the end was stocked full of oranges, granola bars, bananas, and water (I’ve never eaten so many oranges in my life!) On top of that, the volunteers were enthusiastic and encouraging all the way through the race.
One of the things I love the most about running some of these slower races is the opportunity to talk with some of the other runners. Along the course we chatted with a group of JROTC cadets, a father and daughter running their first race together, and so many more.
Other than a few extra stops at the porta-potties, my pregnant belly didn’t affect our race much. We covered the distance with a lot more walking than usual, but that gave us time to enjoy our beautiful surroundings. I was also extra careful to stay hydrated and fueled. I felt great the whole race other than my achy, tired legs at the end. Our little one seemed to sleep through most of his/her first marathon with only the occasional bump and kick to let us know he/she was having a good time J
By the time we hit mile 20 I was more than ready to be done. The course had brought us back into Gatlinburg, but we were once again climbing a long steady incline. We trudged on, and I remember thinking I just couldn’t keep going up that hill. Then I thought about the reason for this race and all the men and women who’d faced much harsher circumstances to defend my freedom, and I pressed on.
Finally, we rounded the last corner, and we could see the finish line in the distance. Drew saw us and came running to cheer us on for those last few steps. He’d finished hours earlier and earned a third place finish in his age group!
Before race day I was not at all excited about the Mountain Man Memorial March. But I am so glad we decided to run it for so many reasons! This race has some serious hills, but the scenery of the Great Smoky Mountains captivated us. We could feel the patriotic spirit in the air as so many ran to honor their fallen brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. The race could not have been better organized from pre-race communication, to packet pick-up, to post race recovery and everything in between. The aid stations were well stocked all the way to the end. And the volunteers….they were absolutely incredible and so encouraging.
We crossed the finish line to the cheers of spectators, and I was immediately humbled at the memory of why we were there. I remembered the man we’d met at the start who would never see his son again because he’d paid ultimate price. I remembered the vast black walls at the Vietnam memorial in Washington DC and the thousands of names etched there. And I remembered our ten year old neighbor, Gracie, whose daddy was killed in action just days before she was born. I remembered….
Thank you, Gold Star Families. You have sacrificed more for this great country than most of us can even fathom. And thank you Mountain Man Memorial March, for honoring and serving these great American heroes.