Portland Marathon runners faced typical cold and wet Portland weather for the marathon, but had plenty of support along the course. (Scott Chia -- The Beacon)
By Bruce Garlinghouse, Staff Writer -- garlingh13@up.edu
If you live on Willamette Boulevard or in Shipstad Hall you may have woken up to the tune of cheers and cowbells on Sunday morning. The source? The 39th Annual Portland Marathon.
The race is a standard marathon length of 26.2 miles, and according to The Portland Marathon's official website, the course is a U.S. Track and Field Certified course, which means it is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. Miles 18 and 19 were run on Willamette Boulevard, along the UP campus.
Junior Christopher Lew said that running past campus was a comforting experience.
"Running past campus helped. It was familiar territory," Lew said.
Lew finished the race in four hours and nine seconds but said he was hoping to finish his first marathon in under four hours.
He signed up for the marathon with his friend senior Jayme Schroeder, who competed in the race last year.
"My friend Jayme mentioned it to me," Lew said. "And running was something I wasn't very good at and I wanted to get better."
Lew and Schroeder began training together in early August and tried to find time during the school year to train.
"It was hard to find time to train with school," Schroeder said. "We would just get in a run whenever we could, like if we had 45 minutes between class we'd go for a run."
Lew said would go on a few six to eight mile runs during weekdays and would "up" his weekend runs on the weekends from 12 miles to, eventually, 18 miles.
It was around the 17 mile mark that Lew said he began to hit his wall, also known as "runner's wall," which is a dramatic feeling of fatigue.
"At around mile 17 I began feeling pretty tired. All I could think was ‘I'm freaking tired, but I have to finish,'" Lew said.
Lew also said he felt like he was hitting his wall around mile 23 but said he was too close to finishing to give up.
"Mile 17 or 18 is tough because you're tired and know you still have a lot of miles to go. But around 24 or 25 all you're thinking is that you're already so close and you have to finish," Lew said.
Schroeder said he never really hit his wall.
"I guess I never hit my wall, but I ate more this year than last year," Schroeder said. "I munched on a honey and jam sandwich during the race, which was key."
Both Schroeder and Lew plan on doing more marathons in the future and both plan on participating in the Portland Marathon next year.
"It was the most painful experience of my life," Lew said. "But it was also one of the most worthwhile."
