The Tube Sock Guy: Over the hills and far away...

The alarm clock went off at 5:00am Sunday morning. It’s unnaturally early of course but the unique opportunity was upon me. Only this time I was 90 lbs lighter and had a tube sock tied around my head. It was a nice morning and I dressed accordingly with a new broken in pair of running shoes. In the couple of weeks leading up to this, a new problem had arisen…nipple chaffing. I had seen this phenomenon while photographing the year before with twin streams of blood down runners shirts and now knew the feeling first hand, especially in the shower afterwards. If you ever wanted to know how fire shooting out of them would feel…kinda like that. There are many solutions on market for this affliction, but coming into this with a simplicity outlook, I opted for Duct tape.

Have I gone completely insane?? Well, not entirely…by the end of the race, the sweat would have loosened them up enough so there was minimal chest hair loss….smart right?

So there I am in my corral with hundreds of other veteran and rookie runners walking slowly towards the start gate to take off into the great unknown. I could almost hear my own heart beat and 15 feet before crossing the line…Chris Johann, a former co worker for many years blasts out of nowhere with his signature bear hug that catapulted us through the beginning of our journey…it was an absolutely perfect moment for me to kick it all off.

I knew that pace was important but definitely wanted to be under three hours to finish. The sun was out and the temperature was pleasant, in the beginning…not to hilly…but that would certainly change. The course would take us through a nice tour of downtown Fredericksburg…at mile 5 there were college students with a table setup with Vodka shots…and I took the last one, luckily followed by a conveniently placed water station. You would then travel past the Rappahannock River and onto Route 1 up to Mary Washington Hospital. Therein lay the obstacle…Hospital Hill. This climb would present itself to us at mile 10, any runner would tell you not the best place for a giant hill. The many residents of the city were out along the course to cheer us on along with US Marines…how motivating is it to have Marines cheering and high-fiving you as you push yourself through this gauntlet of miles. This was also the case at the hill. They had placed motivating signs on the ground and had megaphones to push us up this monstrous incline and before we knew it…we had done it…last sign on the ground…“What Hill?” So now the power is really on and the end was getting so close. My muscles were burning and I wanted nothing more than to reach the finish line. As I crossed Fall Hill Avenue I could see the arch way up ahead and what I had visualized in my head was coming true…I had the momentum of a wrecking ball and went into a full on sprint. My wife, family and friends were along the median holding banners and shaking bottles filled with rocks cheering me to the end. I passed through the finished and was glad to be wearing sunglasses so a dozen Marines didn't see a grown man with tears in his eyes…I totally played it cool you know. As I walked through I could see the medals and a soldier turned to me and said…”I got this guy!” in an excited tone, guess my emotions were all over my face at that point and he draped a 2012 Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon medal around my neck. It had happened…the cameras were going off and food and beverages were being consumed like there were no tomorrow. I made my way back down to my entourage just in time to photo bomb them getting a group shot of all the banners and joined in the fun. My friend Laura would be coming in later on. I felt so bad for her as she had pulled a calf muscle at a volleyball game a couple of weeks before but that would not stop her and she came around and a Marine and myself escorted her across the finish line, a moment I would never forget.
*Also forgot to mention that I was in an article about being in my first Half Marathon...heres the link...
Tube Sock Guy article