Bismarck Runner’s First Marathon – Intimidated? I Think Not

Saying this out of experience, the worst part of preparing for a marathon is...

...the night before the race. Whether it's your 14th one or your very first - you'll lay awake in your bed worrying - "Have I done enough in training?"  When someone decides to run their first marathon, most people have a simple goal - FINISH! Not 19-year-old ( soon to be 20 this Saturday- June 8th ) Hunter Acker.

"3:30"

This was Hunter's goal - to finish under 3 hours and 30 minutes. I talked with him about two weeks before the Fargo Marathon. Over the last 4-5 months he had run several 20-milers in training and going as far as 22 one day. Last year he entered the Bismarck half marathon and completed that in one hour and forty minutes. This is usually when "the seed is planted"...the idea that pops into your head about attempting a FULL marathon. "Does that distance scare you?" I asked him, and with a modest fairly quick response of "No" - I knew he was ready for the Fargo Marathon.

Another rule of thumb on marathon day

Another rule of thumb on marathon day is "If the weather is a little chilly for spectators, it's IDEAL for the runners" - does that make sense? Drinking as much water as you can and keeping yourself from getting dehydrated is one of the main things you concentrate on - the warmer the day, the tougher it gets - the sun can beat you down big time. I work with Hunter's dad - Rick Rider. This whole time he has been amazed at his son's progress, and his commitment, however, like all parents was concerned about how his son would feel after the race. I had no answer for that - it's a brutal race.

"My mind felt different than my legs"

I'm not a coach - I have run 13 of these, and the only advice I had for him was to break that full distance up in your head - "look forward to the first 10 miles, then concentrate on hitting the 20-mile mark, then try and let your conditioning and your mind take over that last 6.2 miles"  This is where you might hear marathoners tell you that the race is only half over at 20 miles. With all the long runs Hunter ran in training, he was entering unchartered territory - "My mind felt different than my legs" he told me how he felt after 23 miles.

"ONLY two miles to go..."

A runner hears that a lot when they are out on the course - but let me tell you, that two miles feels like 2,000. Hunter had a full support crew out in Fargo on Saturday - his mom Mindi, his dad Rick, and his girlfriend Taylor. Encouragement means so much, and they were giving it to him at several places on the course. Hunter felt that from his family and so many others - neighbors coming out of their house for instance. Here is what it looks like when all the hard work you put in pays off...

Congratulations on a HUGE accomplishment!!!!

Well, I'm going to say he smashed his goal of 3:30.......as he crossed the finish line at 3:24.

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Now want to see what it looks like about a half-hour after a marathoner finishes?

Rick called me midday on Saturday asking if I had any advice on how to recover from one of these...not a whole lot that I could say except for "..some Advil maybe, rest, try and walk a little the next day..."  However, looked like to me he was recovering on a pretty quick rate :)

I'm going to close with this...

To anyone who is in training, to anyone who has run a marathon, there is nothing like accomplishing your goal - no matter what it is. Hunter is now eye-balling the Bismarck Marathon which is September 22nd.  I have one more thing to add... THE SUPERBOWL of marathons is within his reach...