Third marathon in the books. Forget the time. It's a celebration of survival!

 Grateful.

Columbus usually has a single word as its annual marathon theme. For me, it's grateful. Forget the 4:03:05 time--the time is the least important part of my 2022 journey. Completing *this* marathon is why I fell in love with the sport with the first place!
A big thank-you to Darris, Star, and the Cbus Marathon team for making this yet another great event. And a shout-out to OhioHealth for helping me in the medical tent overcome dehydration cramps.
I didn't have the best training block due to a near-brush with death 7/21 but I made it to the starting line alive and grateful. I changed my fueling strategy to include 6 gels instead of going with 3. I wound up taking 8 (took the 2 the race provided me), and two bananas. I ran even splits early on, Gallowalked every 2 miles for 1-1:30 to be safe, but went too fast between miles 8-15 (8:20 pace). I should have stuck with the 4:00 pacer but I'll be smarter next time. That said, I ran an even race and only started to fall off at Mile 22. Finishing was one of the most difficult things I've endured in the past few years...but I vowed at Mile 21 I was not going to DNF even though I started to get dehydration cramps and saw my friend Mary and my wife as well. I made it through, and you are all a part of my success in some way or another (and so is Dr. Kyle Alexander of Alexander Center Chiropractic in Clintonville). I'm going to drop down to the 5k, 10k, and 13.1, and try to get fast at those events before going back up to the marathon in 2027. KEEP RUNNING AND DON'T QUIT!

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