The Rome Marathon - a jumbo sized photoblog
Current mood:
inspired
inspired
(Originally posted on MySpace on 4/12/2008)
When you swim... in the creek...and and eel... bites your cheek...
that's... a Mo-rayyyy....
Sorry, couldn't help it.
Monday is an a significant day for the SF Bayside Marathon team for Team in Training so I wanted to post this before then. This was the last event of the Winter 2008 season Maratona della città di Roma.
For Susan and me, this was our first international marathon after seven full and seven half marathons. I love new races. This was no different. I'll skip the coverage of the pre-race sightseeing days for now since I'd be here all day and it'll probably cause my weak-memory computer to crash.
Saturday night was the traditional Pasta Party. Fifty-ish runners and walkers from the Silicon Valley, San Francisco/Marin, SF Bayside and SF Diablo Valley met at the Empire Palace Hotel's restaurant. The pasta, as you might imagine, was pretty darn good.
The highlight of the evening is always the speech by our honored patient, this time it was Mark. He'd been an avid runner, but at one point he lost an unexplainable amount of weight quickly while training. The diagnosis was a rare variety of chronic myelogenous leukemia. Fifteen years ago, that form of cancer had a low survival rate and a prognosis of 18 months. He started on chemo immediately and within seven days, he was in full remission. It was so fast, he didn't even lose his hair. The treatment was made possible in part by funds raised by Team in Training.
This race had a relatively late start for a marathon - 9 AM as opposed to the usual 6:30 or even 5 AM. But while we got to sleep in, most roads were blocked off so we ended walking a few miles to the starting line. We had a lot of first timers who were soaking it all in...
... and a few veterans who were thinking of why they were here.
Rome is the MOST scenic race we've done so far. Seriously, pictures like this are just there for the taking. This is our amazing Staff who took care of all the arrangements - Lindsay, Debbie (staff/participant this time) and our Silicon Valley manager (whose name escapes me... grrr...).
Veterans of the marathon know the first thing you do after hydrating all week is to hit the lines at the porta-potties. Maybe we were just there early, but there were no lines to speak of. Kinda creepy actually. This guy was either a walking advertisement for his energy gel, or was going to crap out from the sugar imbalances sometime by mile 18. (or maybe just crap out... *snicker*)
Coach Al delivered the pre-race pep talk and led us through the round of GO TEAM!! NO WIMPS!! TNT ROCKS!! cheers. NOTHING sets a rookie's mind at ease faster - and no one does it better than Coach Al. I think we shocked the rather sedate European crowd awake after that.
Coach Al with some of the honorees who were racing that day.
Starting line - right in front of the Colosseum. This was right before some guy came through the starting corrals selling cigarettes (no, really!).
Meghan and Sarae. A few or our first-timers from Diablo Valley.
They made a big deal about the cobblestone surface of the course. If you're thinking of trying it, it DID seem to leave a few more people hobbling with knee and hip injuries than usual. You shouldn't have problems if you train well though.
Now we know why the lines at the porta-potties were so short...
We saw this guy right after the starting line. Apparently he does this every year. I guess he wanted to re-create the original run by Phidippides where he ran 26.2 miles to deliver the news that Athens pulled off an amazing upset over the Persians with a desperation shot at the buzzer.
Course-side entertainment for US races is usually a rock or jazz band. Not in Rome. They had maybe 4 full bands playing some upbeat classical and what sounded like great school fight music.
There were about two dozen people in a group who specialize in running marathons backwards. (No, I can't explain it either).
Castel Sant Angelo (the headquarters for the Illuminati in Angels and Demons).
This race got full marks for course support. Even for the late-arriving walkers, there was plenty of Gatorade, water and blood oranges (*drools*...)
My favorite shirts from the race
Photo op at Piazza Navona, where the party never stops (even if you have marathoners running you over because you're stupid enough to try to cross the course without looking both ways).
Susan and Sandi (Silicon Valley) in front of the always crowded Spanish Steps.
Passing by the Trevi Fountain. I had to snap quickly because by this time the course barriers were almost all gone. We were dodging pedestrians and tourists for the next few miles.
I only shot this angle once, coming down the finish chute. Did I mention this race was scenic? This was the first full marathon we actually raced the entire way together. Our warm up curves just don't match well, but we still finished with a walker-respectable 6:23.
I can't remember this fellow's name, but he's from the TNT National Capital chapter. He's done upwards of 30 races and (get this) at least one on every continent, finishing the Antarctica Marathon earlier this year. Susan's looking at my 'life goals' list and cringing.
The lady fourth from the left is Laura, one of our honorees. She's been a part of TNT for 10 years and has beaten cancer twice. Midway through this season, she found out she found another lump - one of the now-known side effects of her original radiation therapy. Coach Al made the trip to support her, but at mile 18, Laura noticed a few other first-time participants struggling. She told Coach to help them out instead. She said later that what she'll remember the most from the race was that every one of her Bayside teammates waited at the finish line - some for hours - until she finished. Laura had surgery the other week and is home now, just waiting for the clearance to start another season.
Meghan had been battling cramps since mile 8 and Sarae had to fight through a migraine around mile 12. At mile 18, Coach Al dropped back to see them and asked Meghan what it was going to take for her to finish the race.
"Gelato"
"What flavor?" Coach ran into a shop, everyone in line let him cut in front, and in about five minutes Meghan had her Cream gelato. She and Sarae both finished. It was the first marathon for both of them.
I'm thinking this is what Coach Al looks like to participants around mile 18.
I missed getting a shot of this, but I hear Coach Joe has some pictures. A TNT participant was one of the last to finish the race. She had an escort of about 10 police cars, a paramedic, her staff support and two coaches. Just about everyone was crying by the time she finished. After she got her medal, everyone of the race support staff got one too (below).
The numbers:
- about 50 participants. As far as I know, San Francisco was the only chapter to have this an an official TNT event. We had our friend from National Capital and one from North Texas who did it on her own.
- The top fundraiser was an SF/Marin walker named Gilda. She raised $15,625.
- The team collectively raised over $320,000 for blood cancer research. Not bad for our first winter team in two years.
Monday is the one-year anniversary of the day beloved TNT participant and honoreeBrenda Donato lost her battle to blood cancer. I only knew her other through MySpace but I remember her as a fighter who was a positive inspiration to the end.
Sunday morning, one of our local team captains and friend of Brenda's will be organizing the first Brenda Donato Rainbow 5K Fun Run and Walk in Walnut Creek. The event is closed, but if you're so inclined, I'd love it if you could make even a small donation.
Ever wonder what it feels like to save a life?
Take a step (or ten or fifty thousand).
Anyone can make a difference.
Work is still taking up way too much of my time. If you happen by the stores and see our new Greenworks products, just nod sagely and know that I'm doing everything I can to make the world a more environmentally better place. I still may not be back full time until mid-May.
Miss you guys!
This race had a relatively late start for a marathon - 9 AM as opposed to the usual 6:30 or even 5 AM. But while we got to sleep in, most roads were blocked off so we ended walking a few miles to the starting line. We had a lot of first timers who were soaking it all in...
... and a few veterans who were thinking of why they were here.
Rome is the MOST scenic race we've done so far. Seriously, pictures like this are just there for the taking. This is our amazing Staff who took care of all the arrangements - Lindsay, Debbie (staff/participant this time) and our Silicon Valley manager (whose name escapes me... grrr...).
Veterans of the marathon know the first thing you do after hydrating all week is to hit the lines at the porta-potties. Maybe we were just there early, but there were no lines to speak of. Kinda creepy actually. This guy was either a walking advertisement for his energy gel, or was going to crap out from the sugar imbalances sometime by mile 18. (or maybe just crap out... *snicker*)
Coach Al delivered the pre-race pep talk and led us through the round of GO TEAM!! NO WIMPS!! TNT ROCKS!! cheers. NOTHING sets a rookie's mind at ease faster - and no one does it better than Coach Al. I think we shocked the rather sedate European crowd awake after that.
Coach Al with some of the honorees who were racing that day.
Starting line - right in front of the Colosseum. This was right before some guy came through the starting corrals selling cigarettes (no, really!).
Meghan and Sarae. A few or our first-timers from Diablo Valley.
They made a big deal about the cobblestone surface of the course. If you're thinking of trying it, it DID seem to leave a few more people hobbling with knee and hip injuries than usual. You shouldn't have problems if you train well though.
Now we know why the lines at the porta-potties were so short...
We saw this guy right after the starting line. Apparently he does this every year. I guess he wanted to re-create the original run by Phidippides where he ran 26.2 miles to deliver the news that Athens pulled off an amazing upset over the Persians with a desperation shot at the buzzer.
Course-side entertainment for US races is usually a rock or jazz band. Not in Rome. They had maybe 4 full bands playing some upbeat classical and what sounded like great school fight music.
There were about two dozen people in a group who specialize in running marathons backwards. (No, I can't explain it either).
Castel Sant Angelo (the headquarters for the Illuminati in Angels and Demons).
This race got full marks for course support. Even for the late-arriving walkers, there was plenty of Gatorade, water and blood oranges (*drools*...)
My favorite shirts from the race
Photo op at Piazza Navona, where the party never stops (even if you have marathoners running you over because you're stupid enough to try to cross the course without looking both ways).
Susan and Sandi (Silicon Valley) in front of the always crowded Spanish Steps.
Passing by the Trevi Fountain. I had to snap quickly because by this time the course barriers were almost all gone. We were dodging pedestrians and tourists for the next few miles.
I only shot this angle once, coming down the finish chute. Did I mention this race was scenic? This was the first full marathon we actually raced the entire way together. Our warm up curves just don't match well, but we still finished with a walker-respectable 6:23.
I can't remember this fellow's name, but he's from the TNT National Capital chapter. He's done upwards of 30 races and (get this) at least one on every continent, finishing the Antarctica Marathon earlier this year. Susan's looking at my 'life goals' list and cringing.
The lady fourth from the left is Laura, one of our honorees. She's been a part of TNT for 10 years and has beaten cancer twice. Midway through this season, she found out she found another lump - one of the now-known side effects of her original radiation therapy. Coach Al made the trip to support her, but at mile 18, Laura noticed a few other first-time participants struggling. She told Coach to help them out instead. She said later that what she'll remember the most from the race was that every one of her Bayside teammates waited at the finish line - some for hours - until she finished. Laura had surgery the other week and is home now, just waiting for the clearance to start another season.
Meghan had been battling cramps since mile 8 and Sarae had to fight through a migraine around mile 12. At mile 18, Coach Al dropped back to see them and asked Meghan what it was going to take for her to finish the race.
"Gelato"
"What flavor?" Coach ran into a shop, everyone in line let him cut in front, and in about five minutes Meghan had her Cream gelato. She and Sarae both finished. It was the first marathon for both of them.
I'm thinking this is what Coach Al looks like to participants around mile 18.
I missed getting a shot of this, but I hear Coach Joe has some pictures. A TNT participant was one of the last to finish the race. She had an escort of about 10 police cars, a paramedic, her staff support and two coaches. Just about everyone was crying by the time she finished. After she got her medal, everyone of the race support staff got one too (below).
The numbers:
- about 50 participants. As far as I know, San Francisco was the only chapter to have this an an official TNT event. We had our friend from National Capital and one from North Texas who did it on her own.
- The top fundraiser was an SF/Marin walker named Gilda. She raised $15,625.
- The team collectively raised over $320,000 for blood cancer research. Not bad for our first winter team in two years.
Monday is the one-year anniversary of the day beloved TNT participant and honoreeBrenda Donato lost her battle to blood cancer. I only knew her other through MySpace but I remember her as a fighter who was a positive inspiration to the end.
Sunday morning, one of our local team captains and friend of Brenda's will be organizing the first Brenda Donato Rainbow 5K Fun Run and Walk in Walnut Creek. The event is closed, but if you're so inclined, I'd love it if you could make even a small donation.
Ever wonder what it feels like to save a life?
Take a step (or ten or fifty thousand).
Anyone can make a difference.
Work is still taking up way too much of my time. If you happen by the stores and see our new Greenworks products, just nod sagely and know that I'm doing everything I can to make the world a more environmentally better place. I still may not be back full time until mid-May.
Miss you guys!
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