After I checked out of the hotel I dropped the car off at the rental place. It didn't open until 7am so I dropped the keys in the box and left the car there. I walked across the street to the bus depot as I had emailed them a few weeks before then to check if they had lockers. When I got there the guy at the counter said that they don't have lockers. Hrrrmph, I just emailed the person from Pacific Coach Lines today to let them know they gave me the wrong information. At first I slightly panicked but then I thought I'd try and see if my stuff would be able to fit at the Gear Check tent. I recalled reading online that your stuff had to fit in a certain size bag. Worst case scenario is I would just ask the Arthritis Society's special event coordinator to hold onto my stuff. So, I walked a few more blocks to the Marathon area. There was lots of hub-bub going on there. I was able to check my bags there no problem. Whew!

I walked a few more blocks and found the hotel where the JIMers were staying. I was 10 minutes early. We were supposed to meet at 7am and then all go to the start line together. I was still in disbelief that I had been up so early and had so much time to spare. It was surreal. A few photos were taken of the group and then we headed to the start line. It took a few minutes to get moving and then when I had some space I set my cell phone countdown timer to 10 minutes as I would walk 10 minutes briskly and then 1 minute slower as I had done for all the long Sunday walks in training. One of the JIMers was running so we didn't see her that morning. She was from Victoria. It rained the whole time. I was still wondering why I wasn't tired at all with such lack of sleep but it was much appreciated.

The slower Marathoners had started at 6:30 am and the Half Marathoners at 7:30 am. Then the faster Marathoners (who could do it in less than 5 hours) started at 8:30 am. After I was walking for about an hour and a half or so some marathoners started to run past me. Quite a few men went by and then when the first woman ran by everyone cheered!!! It was quite a rush being amongst all these athletes. The route was nice, along the seawall and also through some residential areas. I wasn't used to walking in the middle of the road and some parts were at an angle unless you walked right in the middle. It was nice not to have to pay attention to traffic.

I had my race # bib pinned to my t-shirt, so whenever I saw a photographer I had to unzip my jacket and other top to flash my bib #. Unfortunately only one photo of my bib # was visible but I managed to find 2 other photos of myself in the Lost and Found section of the marathon website. At least for Honolulu I won't have a jacket over my bib so should be able to find all my photos and hopefully be in a lot more. Other JIMers had up to a dozen photos taken of them as they had their bib #'s on their jacket or singlet.

I thought I had taken a photo of the finish line but it turned out to be just the ground :( The announcer announced my name as I crossed the finish line. I had no idea what my time was. I had my timing chip removed from my shoe and got my finisher's medal. The Arthritis Society's Special Events coordinator was there and said that she was screaming out my name to take a photo but I didn't hear her. I was too engrossed trying to take a photo of the finish line and also to see one of the female marthoners cross. I ended up finishing in 3 hours and 46 minutes, over half an hour faster than I thought I would.

There was so much food at the finish line: cookies, doughnuts, oranges, liquid yogurt, powerbars etc. I only had a yogurt as I was snacking all the way through the race.

Afterwards at about 1:00 I met up with my high school friend who lives in Victoria now. I hadn't see her for quite a few years so it was great to be able to spend the rest of the day with her. There are 2 Rotties who live at her house upstairs. They are so friendly and I enjoyed playing with them. I sure got my Rotty fix this past weekend!!! I took the 7:00 Superferry home.