White Rock Marathon Race Report.....

Well, this is kind of a bitter-sweet race report. Bitter in the sense that it will be the last race report for this incredible year for me. Sweet in the sense that it is another finish to a marathon and caps  my running miles raced this year at 137.2 total miles. With that, here is my report...

     For the days leading up to the race, I had been battling a chest cold, and am still fighting it off now. It really worried me about this marathon, but I was going to fini**** no matter what! Also, one of the things that has plagued me in many of my longer races is dehydration and electrolyte embalance, so I wanted to come into this race properly hydrated and ready to go. Protein load for days 7-3.5 leading up to the race went well, and carb load for the few days leading up to the race went awesome as well, and was capped off with a plate of lasagna at Joe's Pizza and Pasta accompanied by Darrell from this forum and his 2 sons. Everything was looking great and my cold seemed to be somewhat in check. I got to bed early Saturday night, did my normal toss and turn routine for several hours, then woke up at the sound of the alarm at 4:30am in preperation for the 8am start. I ate 2 Eggos with Peanut Butter, a couple big bottles of Gatorade Focus and some banana chips to top off the tank. I make my way to Dallas, and once there was able to meet up with Darrell and we hung out until race start.

     So, we find our place in the sea of people and position ourselves in the appropriate corral. With 20,000 people running, it seemed like a sea of never ending bodies, but we found our spot and waited for the start. We saw the start of the race on the jumbo tron and it took us 22 minutes from the time of the gun sounding, until we were able to start running. Once we crossed the start line, it was so congested we ran a 11+ minute mile the first mile and it thinned out a little. Now at the 2 mile mark, my bladder felt like it was going to burst, I had to pee so bad. And,  actually that was the main theme for the day... 4 potty breaks in the first 13.1 miles, and 3 potty breaks the second 13.1, WHAT A DRAG!!! I guess being overly hydrated beats the alternative. These stops ate up a lot of time, but it's all good. Things were going well and after the 1st aid station at mile 2 I lost Darrell in the crowd and caught him again as I was exiting my 2nd potty stop before we hit the lake. so we ran for a bit and I started to push my pace. At about mile 6 the marathoners go to the left, and halfer's go to the right, this helped with the congestion of the field as the majority of people racing were doing the half. Out around the lake and enjoying the scenery. For nutrition I a did a Gel, and did not hit the wall at all. 

     At mile 19-20 we get back into the residential communities and you are then pleasently greeted by the infamous "Dolly Parton" hills. The title is self ex planatory... I made it up those hills while be accompanied by my buddy Derrick who was struggling with back spasms, but we chugged along for a couple miles and it was great to chill with him, thanks for getting me through the wall buddy! Now the final 10k is completely downhill... Sounds great and fast IF your legs are fresh, which mine were surely not! The last 6 absolutely shattered my legs and I was in some serious pain. I ended up walking an aggregate of about a mile on the last 6 mile stretch. No harm done... I figure with ALL the potty breaks and the mile I spent walking, it probably equated to a 25-30 minute short-fall from my goal, but I am ok with that. It was just a severely painful last 1.5 miles, but as anyone can attest to who has ever raced, once you hear the sounds of the finish line, people screaming, music blarring, all the pain seems to subside, so I pushed on and finished with a smile on my face and the pride that comes with finishing a 26.2 mile run.

     Regardless of Ironman finishes, other races, etc... You must ALWAYS respect the marathon. It is no joke! All-In-All, I am very happy with my finish, not terribly impressed with my time, however I did manage to improve from last year's results by 11 minutes, so that's a good thing. So that's it, a great race to cap off my year. It was a cool experience to be there at the finish when Darrell finished his first marathon, and overall, was am imcredible day. With that, I bid farewell to an incredible racing year, which in the past 12 months has included 4 Half Ironmans, 1 Full Ironman, 3 Marathons, 2 Sprint Triathlons, 4 x 75+ mile Bike rallies, multiple 5k & 10k's, and has been one of the most rewarding years of my life. This is what LIVING is all about. This journey has been so rewarding, and it would not be the same if I did not have all of you, which I consider my friends, to share it with.  God Bless us all in our journey to find fulfillmet, true happiness, joy, and the never-ending journey to fill the measure of our creation....
 

Dan Benintendi #2275

Fort Worth, TX, USA

Age: 34 Gender: M

Distance	MAR
Clock Time	4:55:10
Chip Time	4:43:50
Overall Place	108 / 251
Gender Place	105 / 218
Division Place	105 / 218
Age Grade	44%
10K Split Rank	114
10K Split Time	1:03:27
Half Split Rank	105
Half Split Time	2:12:59
20 1 Mile Rank	100
20 1 Mile Time	3:27:45
24 Mile Rank	107
24 Mile Time	4:16:48
Final 2 2 Rank	108
Final 2 2 Time	4:43:50

Congrats on another great race. Hope you get rid of that chest cold soon!

Congrats Dan,

I always enjoy reading your positive race reports.  Your attitude and determination are certainly an inspiration.

You had an awesome year, and I hope the next year brings you as much or more success as possible.

Merry Christmas and blessings to you and your family.

Scott

I really enjoyed your report!!! You are so inspiring! Congrats to you and Darrell!!! I bet it truly was awesome to watch him cross that finish line! You had an awesome year!!!

Did you get my message that I saw you and went after you, but lost you in the crowd?

Hey Thanks for the kind words! I saw that message and yeah its a bummer we couldn't have met up... Next time dude. Seriously, sign up for the Cowtown on Feb 26th!

I wished I could, but I will be traveling for work at that time. Can't wait to hear about it though! Best wishes!

Way to go man.

bummer about all the b-room breaks but great race/report nonetheless...  AND, holy crap, that was a lot of big races for the year!  absolutely impressive.

Amazing year!! I remember wondering at the begining of the year how you were going to be able to do all those races!! That was a amazing year!! Congrats!!

Wow Dan, sorry for all those pee breaks!  You are a total inspiration and the details are helpful for those of us who are less experienced, to know what we have to work toward...........