In preparation I had my kids stay up late and paint my toenails the night before. So here was the plan. Park near the finish (Pier Village). Ride my track bike 3 miles to the start (Monmouth Race Track) and start with everyone else.
In reality it took me at least an extra 1/2 hour to make it down to Pier Village an find parking. I still had enough time if I didn't have to pedal against the stream of runners. I was almost there when the last runners ran past my bike. I had to take action! I was in a residential neighborhood of Oceanport. So I asked a lady, who was cheering on the runners from her front lawn, if she would be kind enough to keep my bike for a few hours while I ran after the group of runners now fading into the distance. Surprisingly enough she agreed! She didn't change her mind even after the painted toenails emerged from my cycling shoes! I'm glad there are still some good trusting people left. She was apprehensive about letting me use the restroom which was more than understandable. But it did leave me with a quest of finding a port-a-john which took a while, 18+ miles. Quite the hold!
Met so many friends along the way. First it was David and Paul from Little Silver. Then I saw Gulnura from JSRC who was volunteering. She jumped in and ran a little way with me which was so nice of her. I kept hearing comments like, "another barefoot runner". I was pretty sure it had to be Frank H so I asked and found out that he was at least 10-15 minutes ahead of me. I wasn't fast enough to catchup. But I saw ex-service Frank from JSRC. Then almost towards the end I saw Tim and his friend Joe. By then my feet were screaming. Any little pebble I stepped on was sending me into a convulsive spasm. The surface wasn't very compromising either. So I walked a little but even that was painful. Eventually I saw the finish line. The surface was smooth here. So I raced to the finish and kept running past the volunteers handing out medals. That's when I saw Cindy, my half ironman. running buddy from 2 years ago.
I finally stopped and checked my stats. 25.25 miles in 3:46:38. Not stellar but not too shabby. My first bandit run. I was carrying my own gel. So I didn't feel too bad. I don't drink Gatorade. But I did accept water whenever I was thirsty. I also accepted two halves of bananas. That didn't feel too wrong somehow. Not quite a marathon. But certainly my longest barefoot run.
The mile or so walk back to the car was long. I drove to Oceanport to find the my bike. No one answered the door so went around the back and collected my bike. A neighbor came by and told me that she had gone out. I asked her neighbor to thank her for me.
In reality it took me at least an extra 1/2 hour to make it down to Pier Village an find parking. I still had enough time if I didn't have to pedal against the stream of runners. I was almost there when the last runners ran past my bike. I had to take action! I was in a residential neighborhood of Oceanport. So I asked a lady, who was cheering on the runners from her front lawn, if she would be kind enough to keep my bike for a few hours while I ran after the group of runners now fading into the distance. Surprisingly enough she agreed! She didn't change her mind even after the painted toenails emerged from my cycling shoes! I'm glad there are still some good trusting people left. She was apprehensive about letting me use the restroom which was more than understandable. But it did leave me with a quest of finding a port-a-john which took a while, 18+ miles. Quite the hold!
Met so many friends along the way. First it was David and Paul from Little Silver. Then I saw Gulnura from JSRC who was volunteering. She jumped in and ran a little way with me which was so nice of her. I kept hearing comments like, "another barefoot runner". I was pretty sure it had to be Frank H so I asked and found out that he was at least 10-15 minutes ahead of me. I wasn't fast enough to catchup. But I saw ex-service Frank from JSRC. Then almost towards the end I saw Tim and his friend Joe. By then my feet were screaming. Any little pebble I stepped on was sending me into a convulsive spasm. The surface wasn't very compromising either. So I walked a little but even that was painful. Eventually I saw the finish line. The surface was smooth here. So I raced to the finish and kept running past the volunteers handing out medals. That's when I saw Cindy, my half ironman. running buddy from 2 years ago.
I finally stopped and checked my stats. 25.25 miles in 3:46:38. Not stellar but not too shabby. My first bandit run. I was carrying my own gel. So I didn't feel too bad. I don't drink Gatorade. But I did accept water whenever I was thirsty. I also accepted two halves of bananas. That didn't feel too wrong somehow. Not quite a marathon. But certainly my longest barefoot run.
The mile or so walk back to the car was long. I drove to Oceanport to find the my bike. No one answered the door so went around the back and collected my bike. A neighbor came by and told me that she had gone out. I asked her neighbor to thank her for me.
