It had been reported as the perfect day for running. There was a nice warm breeze blowing and a cloudy sky hanging overhead as W.H.S. Senior Rick Carrick ran his longest distance yet, the Boston Marathon.
“I was feeling pretty good, feeling pretty strong,” Carrick said of his pre marathon emotions. “There was a little nervousness, but not too bad though; I knew I didn’t have to go fast or anything like that.”
Fast indeed. An important lesson to learn about long-distance running is pacing yourself, and when running from Hopkinton to Boston, it is necessary to constantly repeat that message in your head.
Even so, Carrick, a member of the indoor track team, did not have to worry about competing with front-runners like Robert Cheruiyot, Rita Jeptoo (this year’s winners). Because it was his first marathon, Carrick ran as a bandit, or as an unregistered runner.
Despite the connotation of ‘bandit’, Carrick says he did not have to worry about security. According to Carrick, not only is it generally accepted, but about five thousand bandits ran this year.
Regardless whether or not one was registered for the marathon, he or she still ran the same distance as everyone else. Even for being a bandit and still in high school, Carrick held his own.
Still, Carrick says he wish he prepared more.
“The longest I ran for training was about fourteen miles, and that was about twelve less than the entire race,” said Carrick, who had been running regularly since last June in preparation for the marathon. “I wish I had done longer distances.”
“It was a lot longer than I anticipated,” said Carrick, who has been running long distance on the track team for some time. “The first 18 miles weren’t bad, but the last 8 miles were pretty rough.”
Overall, however, Carrick still had a good time.
“It felt really good actually,” Carrick said of his first marathon experience. “Nowhere on the 26-mile course people weren’t cheering you on, offering you some water, and stuff like that.”
“Next year, I think I’m going to run another marathon,” Carrick said, “And next time, I’m hoping to qualify.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are valued greatly. Please adhere to the decorum on the "First time here?" page. Comments that are in violation of any of the rules will be deleted without notice.
3/11 Update - No Moderation
*Non-anonymous commenting is preferred to avoid mix-ups. Anonymous comments are, at the behest of management, more likely to be deleted than non-anonymous comments.