Bridging States and Limits: Race Report from the Mississippi River Marathon

Gysel Parajon(MM8995, HF18751) The same crazy energy I experienced a few weeks ago at the Redding Marathon reappeared this past Saturday at the Mississippi River Marathon, #97 and State #36, with having essentially napped a few hours after arriving at my destination. I tried to pace myself, but in my excitement with meeting Maniacs like myself, running in a new state, and it being a nice cool, windy day I ran faster than I intended for the first 10/11 miles. After that I started experiencing GI issues, which slowed me down some but I still felt strong and kept going at the same pace which was between 10:55 – 11:15 minutes/mile. I used the run/walk method doing a minute of walking at the beginning of each mile and running the rest. This lasted until reaching the bridge over the Mississippi where the course went from being flat to a very nice climb and then descent. It spanned 2 miles over the river, which was grand and my favorite part.

By mile 18 my lower body had cramped up to the point where I needed painkillers, but there was none to be had at any of the aid stations, of which there were many. That was nice and much appreciated but unfortunately the Gatorade and water being served didn’t help. I had forgotten my salt tabs and didn’t take enough nutrition for the race, an error that followed me through for a couple days after the race… I did however eat donuts at every AS that had them. Still my body hurt and I had to slow down and take more walk breaks.

Later I remembered I had some LMNT in my pack and quickly mixed it with the H2O in one of my flasks. It took some time but it eventually took effect and made me feel better. I continued on making a couple more stops due to my GI issues, but I pushed my body and ended up meeting my original goal time of 6 hours! A runner whom I kept leaping-frogging with told me at the finish that my walking portions were hard to keep up with, which made me smile. I train for speed-walking too.

Thank you to the volunteers, the RD for putting on a well coordinated race, my fellow runners, my family, especially my son, his papa, and my friends for their support. Special thanks to @kll87 for accompanying me on the phone as I drove to my destination.