Bring on Boston!!

This is my first blog entry, but since I know Darc would never put anything about herself on here, I felt the need to inform her loyal followers of the level of awesomeness she displayed yesterday at the Newport Marathon.

Darcee finished her first Marathon in 3 hours and 31 minutes, earning her a qualifying spot at the Boston Marathon in 2011. To put that in perspective, she ran 26.2 miles and averaged about 8 minutes per mile. I have been running a little bit too. I average 10 minutes per mile when I go on my long runs of about 3 miles. Darc ran 26.2 miles at an 8 minute clip. This should clear up any questions about why I don't run with her.

Her time of 3:31 was good enough to place 4th in her division and 11th overall out of about 300+ women in the race. I haven't done the official math yet, but I believe her time puts her in the top 40 of all 800+ runners in the race, men included. Did I mention this was her first marathon? Did I also mention that she had a baby 8 months ago and has trained relentlessly through the cold and rainy Portland winter, despite averaging 5-6 hours a night of sporadic sleep?

For those that care, I'll give you the play by play. Thanks to Emily and Grandpa and Grandma Burnett for staying with the kids, Darc and I were able to go over to Newport on Friday evening so that Darc could relax a little bit before the race started the next morning.

The race started at 7am in Yaquina Bay State Park on a beautiful crystal clear morning on the Oregon coast.

Darc was pretty nervous throughout the week, but by the time the race started, she had her game face on and was ready to take it to the streets of Newport.

Darc ran hard and fast from start to finish, undoubtedly being inspired by the "Marathon Mix" iPod playlist that I created for her the night before. Michael Jackson's "Beat It" was the lead off song. I knew there was a risk of her starting too fast with a lead off song with that much power, but it was a risk I was willing to take. She managed to control the fury and keep her pace over the entire race.

This guy, like many others, was wishing she'd controlled the fury a little more, since she passed him at mile 17 like he was standing still. I heckled him as she went past, "hey, 833, that's my wife that just passed you!" "This is her first marathon!" "She has 3 kids at home, including an 8 month old!" "What's your excuse?"

I'm kidding, there was no verbal heckling, the look of shame on his face said enough. I'll send him this picture though and tell him not to be ashamed since Darc beat most of the other men in the race too and that making Darcee's highlight reel should be considered an honor. Seriously though, can you believe this girl had run 17 miles at this point?

Darc kicked it into high gear after mile 17 and made up ground on a lot of the weaker runners in the race. She proudly told me after the race that nobody passed her after mile 15, but that between miles 15-26, she passed a lot of the women (and men) who had started out ahead of her.

I knew she had to get in before 3:40 to qualify for Boston, so as the clock crossed 3:30 I started to get really nervous. I hadn't seen her since mile 17 and was worried that she may have suffered a setback at the tail end of the race. Much to my relief, she came across the finish line at 3:31 to the raucous cheers of her fan club (Me, Cole, Keith, Ally, Grandpa and Grandma Burnett, Clint, Julie, Wee Man, and Buck and Emily). It was so great to have them down to cheer her on. Not only did it mean a lot to Darcee, but they were all so much help with the kids so that I could focus on being Darcee's coach, mentor and inspiration (I'm sure Darc would use those same words to describe me).

Anyway, after crossing the finish the line, Darcee still had the energy to snap photos with me and the kids.

Darc will undoubtedly be embarassed by my shameless bragging, but I honestly could not have been prouder of her today and can't wait to watch her run in the historic Boston Marathon next April.