Nashville’s Country Music Marathon

On a spring weekend in 2014, a few months after the birth of my second child, a few months after my sister Kristen settled on a gap year and a few months after my sister Laura decided to work in Goose Bay for a year, we dreamed up a sister marathon trip. It would be Laura and Kristen’s first marathon. It would be my comeback marathon. Laura and Kristen had taken 2 sister trips together while I was off in motherhood land and couldn’t join them. We scoured race websites and chose the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Tennessee on April 25: good timing for all of us and a race that sounds totally rockin’ cool.

We arrived in Nashville on Thursday morning ahead of the Saturday race. Two vacation days were filled with laughs. Nervous energy and my two favourite girls to be silly with led to many giggle fests, mostly centered on “The Gulch.” We all knew about funny dude The Oatmeal’s “The Blerch.” The Nashville course description told us that the course took a right at mile 2 through “the ultrahip Gulch.” We saw the signs pointing to “The Gulch.” And so our own sister version of the Blerch was born. Introducing “The Gulch.”

Race day came. I was placed in corral 1 with the first 1000 of 30,000 runners. At first for me.

I was really sad for Cliff at the start line and when the air horn sounded I started running through tears. Country Music Marathon had a big celebration for runners the night of the race featuring Martina McBride and we had been listening to her music in the hotel for 2 days. “Love’s the only house big enough for all the pain in the world” began to play in my head. I settled in for the long job ahead and maybe that release was cathartic.

The 3 of us wore “Cliff’s Antique’s” singlets and my favourite parts of the race were spectators yelling “Go Cliff’s” at me. They kept me close to him. I saw Cliff everywhere. Most notably when I didn’t know where I was in the field, an old man around 25km told me that I was 4^th female and he was my Cliff.  Maybe that’s what helped me hold onto this place.

Country Music Marathon promised a concert every mile and they lived up to this promise. The concerts, stages and all, were incredible. Lots of honkey tonk. A gospel choir that gave me chills; a washtub and plastic jug band; a super rocker chic belting out “Helter Skelter” at mile 20. Bikers at the half belting out Bon Jovi, “OOOOH, you’re halfway there, ohhhh ohhh, living on a prayer.” DJs were blasting some sweet tunes on some serious speakers. I loved the southern drawl, “go lady runna,” spoken very slowly.

This was the best mental marathon I’ve ever run. I didn’t think about much except “Act like a horse, be dumb, just run” (thanks Sarah), then “hang on” and then Cliff’s famous “the fastest way to the finish is to run to it” the last 10km when I was quite tight and the hot air was thick with floral fragrance and it was 23 degrees with the sun busting out in Shelby Park.

I said hello to my 3 best girls Sarah, Shauna and Tonya at the timing mats. I was so glad knowing they were behind me in Nova Scotia and believing so fiercely in me.

The community of Nashville is totally into their marathoners. Many kind and creative citizens set up their own aid stations: oranges, candy, beer at two stops (how did I miss both!), water, ice water, bags of ice, pretzels, soaking wet ice cold towels at mile 25.5 (bliss), MANY with Krispy Kreme doughnuts (!!). Laura ran through 2 hoses. Cheers and love.

Early in the race, we ran up and down hills through the Gulch, which was pretty unmemorable, and then through a residential area with long lawns and huge southern antebellum mansions that look just like I thought they would. We entered Belmont University then Vanderbilt University next- stunning old South campuses. House of Card’s Frank Underwood might have studied there. Sororities and fraternities were out in full force.

Mile 12 took us through a strip mall paved paradise and onto highway. Here, a root beer flavoured GU had it out for me. I opened it and accidently squeezed half of its sticky contents all over my left hand. A hot sticky mess. Then while trying to eat it pre-water-stop, I put the whole packet in my mouth and pulled it back out between my teeth, I ate the price tag I’d left on it. I thought about how my sisters would find this so funny. Then I took the packet outta my mouth with my right hand and now it was sticky too. I tried to wipe my sticky hands on my shorts but it was so warm that my shorts were dry. So I wiped my hands clean in my sweaty ponytail. Root beer Gu is off the list.

This course has two long out and backs at mile 15 and then mile 23.5 all the way to the finish. This was excellent for me. I love out and backs and on this special day, I had two sisters to look for. I spent the first running easily and looking for my girls. I saw Kristen just as I joined the out and back from a loop and we happily yelled at each other. She looked so strong and easy, gliding along with a huge grin on her face and I knew it was her day to shine.

Up and down hills, I floated easily until 25km. I ran with two lovely men for much of the first half. I could hear Cliff a lot: “You’re so lucky.” I was looking forward to picking it up either at km 25 or at 32km. But the continuous hills were eating me up a little. I hit a few spots where the pain was standing there on the course waiting for me. I accepted it and managed it and dealt with. The second time I met the pain, the 28km band was playing “Counting Stars,” one of my 3 year old’s favourite songs from watching Public School 22 on youtube and I figured this was for me and my next split was back to 4:30. But my last 4:30 split was at 32km. The 4th time the pain, the Gulch, got me was km 33 and I couldn’t quite recover.

After being on pace for a 3:10 marathon at 10 miles and at half with a split of 1:35:xx, I was 2:50 off 3:10 pace at mile 20. I started telling myself how much distance was left. 10km is an easy run to Point Pleasant Park. 8km is a workout with 2 intervals.

We turned into Shelby Park at mile 21.5 for a 2-mile loop. The crusher dust park path circled a thick, green, swampy pond. The trees were low hanging and lush. The still air was humid and dense with magnolia and lilac. It was both gorgeous and deadly. The Gulch was stronger than many a runner in this fragrant circle of suck. I passed 4 men walking. These were 3-hour marathon men. Kristen says there were geese in the water. I didn’t know that there was anything alive in there.

I saw Kristen when I exited the park and yelled at her to beat the Gulch. She looked like a lean, mean running machine. I was trying hard to hold on/hold off the death march. I was fighting physiology hard. I would gather my shit and hold down the Gulch and start running what felt like a smooth stride but my brain was doing it’s best to shut me down and scare me into sliding towards the march which was a safer way to get our body to the finish. This was my first marathon in four years following the birth and babyhood of two children. Physiology was strong today.

I was looking hard for my Laura now on this long out and back that would carry me to the finish. I wanted so badly to finish. I saw the mile 25 flag ushering me to the longest mile of my life. We were finishing at the Tennessee Titan’s NFL Stadium, which was nowhere to be seen. I finally allowed myself to think about my two children during this mile- I was saving them for when I really needed them. I passed one km to go and felt the crushing absence of Cliff. Then I was rewarded with the sweet, sweet sight of my sister Laura right before turning left onto the stretch bringing me to the finally visible stadium. She looked positively giddy and I also told her to outrun the Gulch. Laura told me later that she had been laughing for 13 miles because her “thighs had eaten her shorts.”

At mile 20, I thought that I could just hold onto sub 5:00/km and still take home a 3:12 but alas, my Garmin read 42.7km at the finish and that extra 0.5km run put me in at 3:15:20. I was equally ecstatic with this time; 3:12 never really belonged to me. I knew I was running a PB and that I had given it my best shot. I left it all out there and that was my goal.

I was emotional at finish for Cliff, for my son and daughter and for myself. A race photographer asked to take my photo and then was quite concerned: “are you ok?” Yes. I’d just been through a lot in my runner’s life over the last 6 months. I walked to baggage area with the very lovely 3rd place runner who I finally caught sight of once in Shelby Park at 34km but she was ahead and I was where I was. Though 2 of the women ahead of me finished in 3:12 and 3:13, despite this one glimpse, I didn’t see them at all and they must have faded too.

The sister reunion was magical.

Kristen ran a Boston qualifying 3:31 in her marathon debut. Who does that?! An athlete trained by Cliff, that’s who. Laura ran a 4:15 in her first marathon despite training practically in the North Pole of Goose Bay.

In our sock feet, we enjoyed a very celebratory beer under a hot sun in Victory Circle at LP Stadium, country band jamming next to us.

Today, the three of us beat the Gulch together.

 Post Script:

A marathon is a solo race but doesn’t happen alone so I need this chance to thank those who helped me toe the line. Thanks to my husband, my person, for getting me onto the road with happily cared for kids at every Tuesday for track practice and Sunday am for long run once for 6 months. He doesn’t run but he’s the most important person on my running team. Thanks to Kristen for many weekday afternoons of free babysitting for a medium long run or second track workout. Thanks to my girls and training partners Shauna, Sarah, Tonya and Kari Ellen for sharing the journey. Thanks to BOB for the amazing duallie run stroller that logged many miles with my favourite tiny but also heavy running partners, my son and daughter, on board.

Finally, to Cliff, this one was for you.