March 6, 2005. 8:00am. 15 minutes before the start of the race. I was standing in the middle of downtown Los Angeles and around me was a sea of humanity. I was excited, felt strong, and was ready to run my first marathon. The starting horn sounded and the melee of people began to ease forward like a heard of cattle. As I approached the starting line, I heard the song "I Love LA" blaring in the background. I also saw Muhammad Ali, Lisa Leslie, and a bunch of other probably famous people on a platform off to the right. It was totally awesome to see "The Greatest of All Time" there waving at the crowd and pointing to us. What an inspiration he is for so many people including me! As I looked down the course, I could see wall to wall runners for blocks and blocks…an absolutely amazing sight in the middle of downtown!

For the first 6 miles, it was difficult to go any faster than an 11 min / mile pace. There were runners and walkers everywhere so I just went at the heard's pace trying to conserve my energy. Before I knew it the first 6 miles were over and the crowd began to thin out and for the next 6 miles I opened it up just a little bit but not too much though. I constantly told myself to go slow and save my knees and energy for later. At mile 13, I still felt really good as I had run 2 half marathons recently for practice. I had passed through many different neighborhoods in South Central LA and witnessed the diverse culture in this town. All types of people in all shapes, sizes, color, and creed came out to support the thousands of runners along the course. It was fantastic to see that in a town most-notably known for gangs and violence. Along the route there were high school bands, musicians, dancers, and cheerleaders motivating us on. Each water and aid station was as long as a city block so there was plenty of opportunity to get hydrated. There were also many people along the route passing out orange slices, cookies, bananas, candy, and other goodies. People with their garden hoses kept dousing us with cool fresh water. At one spot there were people spraying the runner's legs with some stuff, I was intrigued so I gave it a try even though I didn't know what it was. Whatever it was, it helped cool the burning muscles in my leg. I have to say that the support from the people of Los Angeles was heart-warming. There was not one city block where it wasn't lined with spectators, sometimes 3 or 4 deep. Without them I wouldn't have made it, that's for sure.

At one point as I was turning a corner, I remember seeing a bunch of yellow Disney Volunteer t-shirts and I ran up to them and they all cheered me on because I was wearing my Disney Tri Team jersey. I then caught myself running at too fast of a pace due to my excitement so I had to tell myself to slow down and take it easy. From mile 13 to 17, I just enjoyed the sites and sounds of the marathon but that's also when fun and games began to turn into hell and torture.

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