Mile 25 to the Finish - THE BEST MILE YET!!!!

Mile 25 to the Finish – If you have reached this point without getting a seat on the Group W Bus…. You pretty much have the Medallion around your neck.
In a few hundred yards you begin a nice easy drop down to Carmel River State Beach and the final aid station. I use the giant oak on the left as one of those “Let me keep my pace to the tree and see how I feel”
By now your legs are tied up in knots, quads are talking to you big time and trying to pick it up is pretty tough. So don’t, just yet, save it for the big finish!!!
As you drop down you get a bit more inspired to reach that FINAL aid station and begin the final climb. Enjoy the view of the coast and your final moments on Highway 1.
Hold your race pace to the Aid Station.
I always hit the aid station for a little Gatorade to give me that final push up the hill and down to the finish.
Don’t get too excited and start pushing hard unless you still have some serious reserves. We still have a MILE to go. That final climb is brutal and relentless on tired legs. If you paced yourself correctly you can gently run it and pass everyone walking it. I’ll bet I picked up 50 places last year. When you see a road sign for Riley Ranch Road you are at the top and on the final descent to the finish.
As you begin your descent, you will start to see people walking the road shouting encouragement. As we progress past the farm on the right, the Carmel River Bridge comes into site and the faint hint of the FINISH sign!!!! At the bridge you can see the FINISH Line and hear the announcer, the crowd is now very thick with family and friends waiting for their runner(s) to go by. All are encouraging and clapping, so let the adrenaline kick in and go for it. That bridge seems to be the longest bridge in the world and that FINISH sign is just so far away, but getting closer. Once past the bridge, you can see the Finish chute and clock, how are you doing? Time to pick it up a bit more and beat the clock. The next thing you know you are hitting the cones for the finish, but it is still a few torturous yards away to cross the line, KEEP GOIING AND FOCUS!!!! Pretty soon you hear the beep of the chip finish line and you can coast to a stop…. YOU HAVE DONE IT!!!!!
Time to enjoy and bask in the glow if this incredible accomplishment!!!! There are many marathoners are out there that won’t tackle Big Sur because of its difficulty. You are better than that, so enjoy and boast about what you just did!!!!!


Well, this is the end of a series, I actually hadn't planned on doing, but it was a lot of fun for me. I need to take a hard look at those writing skills, saw a few spots that needed serious rework
Hope it was helpful.
I will post a summary page in the next few days, just to keep life simple.

Edited Mon Apr 21st 2008 5:15 am by Grzldvt

What an exciting finish!! Makes it all seem worthwhile!! Thank you so much for the encouragement and guidance.

I was afraid you would leave us at the 25mm, assuming we'd figure out the rest from there. :D Sounds like we needed your insight re: that final uphill push. I think I'll have my family meet me just before or after the bridge - it sounds like they'll be able to video me approaching the finish line from there too.

Dear GRZLD- Thank you again for the wonderful story of the race in episodes. This last one brought it all back to me.

Last year Ithings went well and I knew I was going to come in under my goal time. The comparison point was the year before when I met the wall at mile 17.

So, I managed to zoom up that hill after mile 25; D Minor Hill at D Major Time. Well, for me it was a zoom, for others it probably looked more like a glorified scamper. I let out a loud whoop at the top. Other participants looked at me with doubtful expressions so I whooped again and said, "That is the LAST hill!!" and kept picking up the pace all the way to the finish. It felt so good... until I stopped, but that was after the finish so what the heck.

Grzldvt - Many thanks for the detailed mile-by-mile tour for middle/back-of-the-packers, of which I will be one. This will be my first (and only) marathon and I heard if you are only going to do one, this is the one to do. I'm actually really looking forward to it after reading your posts, which helped me relax - it isn't such a great unknown. I've been training, I have a plan and now I have some familiarity with the course. So thank you.

By the way, the posts have made me realize a new aspect to my motivation - getting to spend a day in a beautiful place with a couple thousand like-minded folks who are all willing each other to accomplish their goals. I look forward to meeting everyone on the road!

-Jennifer

ttt

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