Davos-Alpine Marathon 21k
Jacob_Bock_K21_2008.pdf
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Craziness!
The following is a recap of my first official half-marathon. Ben and I ran it, well, ran and walked it, and Julie and Sue walked the course.
A train took Ben and I to the starting point, a bridge that spanned a huge valley. A thousand runners got ready for the starting gun. A helicopter flew overhead with a cameraman hanging out the side door. Music got our adrenalin pumping and we were off.
I told Ben my goal was to finish. He said he would stick with me and do it for fun. I knew there would be hills, after all, we are in the Alps, so I trained on the hills behind our house. Ha. We crossed the bridge and hit the first hill...
ONE HOUR AND FOURTY FIVE MINUTES LATER we got to the top of it and we were only HALF way! There was a water stand and some banana chunks. Next to the stand was a wooden water trough for cows I guess. I stuck my head in the trough, soaked my hat, went to the table and started stuffing bananas in my mouth. Oh my goodness. I thought I was going to die. We had run-walked to an altitude of about 2000 feet higher than where we had started. We were now at a mile high. I thought that with the bananas maybe they would have offered oxygen too. They didn’t.
Old men, in their 70’s, were now passing me. No kidding. Ben kept looking over his shoulder, completely embarrassed that we were being passed by women and the geriatric. He dreaded coming in last. Yet he stuck with me. At 2:15 my legs started to cramp, I started walking DOWN the hills and could NOT catch my breath for the life of me.
We ran through small towns and the locals would encourage us, calling us by name as it was written under our running number. They sat in their lawn chairs sipping iced tea and clapping. I wanted to sit down with them and ask them to drive me to the finish line. I was convinced I could go no more. At K15 we had another water break with some energy bars. I stuffed my pockets and filled each hand with bars and water. My body screamed for food, water, rest. Then someone in German said, “Come on Jakob, you can do it!” (Or so I assumed she said that) I responded in English, “Is the end near?” They responded back in English, “Less than 5k, come on Jakob, you can do it!” Yes, YES, I CAN DO IT!
I ran for about 100 meters and had to walk again. Great grandpa and I had been passing each other all during the race. He passed me again.
Then we came upon an incredible scene. It was where all the races joined onto one trail for the final 2k ending in the stadium at the finish line. I joined in the trail of men and women finishing the 11k, the 21k, the 42k and the 78k. I found myself congratulating the 78ers for finishing in 8-10 hours. The last part was down hill and through the streets of Davos and into the stadium, Ben asked if he could sprint the last leg and I let him go. As I was coming down the hill, running now, about to enter the town, people at the bottom of the hill started screaming and cheering and taking pictures when they saw me! I then realized it was for the guy behind me finishing the 78k, but I just pretended it was for me.
Then as I ran through the streets of the town, people were lined up on both sides. My body became free from pain, I could run again. From head to foot my skin began to tingle. The noise of the crowd was muffled. I rounded the corner and ran into the stadium. I was now running on the track and both sides were lined with fans. My body buzzed and emotion overwhelmed me. I cried.
I crossed the finish line. They gave me a medal. I had made it. Three hours and five minutes of running in the Alps. I came in 914th out of 962. Ben was glad we did not come in last.
Jacob Bock
American, living in Madrid, Spain
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