Marathon Report- The first 8 miles

From Start to Mile 3: I didn't really know when the race officially started. I didn't hear a gun or anything but all of the sudden the crowd lurched forward and there was cheering and then it stopped. Then after a few seconds we slowly started moving again and after a couple of minutes I was jogging over the starting mat and I was off. I pulled off the garbage bag and tossed it to the side because it wasn't raining too hard and I thought it would slow me down. I tried to be really conscientious about not getting caught up in the moment and going really slow at the start. Then before I knew it I was at the first mile post. I don't think a mile has ever gone by faster than that in my entire life. I wasn't running it too fast (probably around 8:45 or so) the time just flew by, so I was feeling good. I was trying to stay as close as possible to the 4:00 pace group and remember the Cliff pace lady commenting on the swishing sound of all the people who were still wearing garbage bags. Then again before I knew it we were at mile 2. My strategy was to take walk breaks every two miles but I felt good and figured that since the first aid station wasn't until mile 3 I could hold on. It was still dark as we approached mile 3 and I knew we were getting close when I could see the flashing lights of police vehicles. I was starting to feel like I was going to have to take a dump break but the porta poties at the aid station were packed so I decided to wait until I saw one that was open.

Miles 3-8: Still felt pretty good except for the lingering feeling of needing to use the bathroom. I started looking at the terrain to see if there were any good bushes. I fell behind the 4:00 pace group at the mile 3 aid station, but was able to catch up by mile 4. At mile 5 I felt like I didn't need my long sleeve shirt so I took it off and threw it to the side of the road. Again, the porta poties at mile 5 were packed so I decided to wait and see if there were any open ones at mile 6. As the mile 6 porta poties came into view I could see that there were at least 4-5 people waiting at each one and we were coming up to the town of Veyo and my options were quickly disappearing, so I made a quick decision to duck behind a bush/tree at the side of the road. I was surprised at the mud sticking to my shoes as I got off the road, found a good spot and quickly took care of business. I was glad that I brought that emergency TP and headed back to the road. By that time the 4:00 pace group was out of sight and I didn't see them for the rest of the race. The course heads downhill into Veyo, then right after mile 7 it goes into a steep climb. I could feel the anticipation of the crowd for this hill. Everybody speeds way up on the downhill leading up to it, then it's like waves hitting a beach as everybody slowly makes their way up the infamous Veyo hill. Right after the top of the hill I hit mile 8.