50 Great Marathons
Each year as April gives way to May, runners in increasing numbers appear before daybreak in front of the Oklahoma City National Memorial, to take part in an event that will almost surely call for character and a depth of physical effort unprecedented for many of them. What I witnessed, though, at the inaugural Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in 2001-and have seen validated in each event since-is a sense of sheer gratefulness for simply being there. I’ve not encountered that depth of emotion in any of my other marathon experiences. With the plethora of marathon offerings worldwide, why would these feelings prevail in Oklahoma, hardly a state known as a marathon mecca? Furthermore, why has such an embryonic event reached “destination” marathon status?
Ask the two founders of this race, who formulated the concept one Sunday morning while traversing the streets of Oklahoma City on a long training run. The answer is most paradoxical. Both are quick to say this race is NOT about running. The race is about life.
OKC Memorial Marathon President Thomas Hill and Race Director Chet Collier had a vision in early 2000 to celebrate how far the city had come since that April day in 1995 when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was the sight of the senseless tragedy that altered the course of so many lives here. Hill, an accomplished marathoner, emphasizes the theme of the race: “Find a Reason to Run”. Collier’s passion is evident as he reiterates their goal for everyone who participates, whether running or walking: that this last Sunday in April will continue to be a Run To Remember for all who take part.
A race with tremendous purpose-in this case to raise money for the Memorial, and to remember those victimized by this act of terrorism-can sometimes thrive for a year or two on emotion alone. For a marathon to persevere, however, it must be carried off with precision and efficiency. In this department, accolades abound. After only three years on the marathon “map,” the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon was accorded by Runner’s World magazine one of the 12 greatest marathons in the world, a “must run” singled out as “Most Memorable” and introduced into an exclusive circle with the likes of marathons in Rome, Stockholm, Pikes Peak and Vancouver. Bart Yasso, veteran race and event promotion director at Runner’s World, wrote the article and has run marathons on all seven continents, numbering over 150 worldwide. He describes this marathon as, “A very moving marathon…….it starts right next to the memorial; you can see the different-sized chairs that symbolize the kids and adults. After the race, runners leave notes and bib numbers on the remembrance wall near the finish. It’s amazing. You never forget it.”
Race day brings a groundswell of excitement, mixed with awe and reverence, but also pomp and pageantry. The best way to describe this race is that it’s an Event, a classic triumph-over-tragedy story which continues to grow and be nurtured by an entire city that embraces this day. In memory of those lost and in honor of the survivors, runners take to the streets and are shocked by the support shown by throngs of onlookers looking for friends and family. Many spectators are simply there to lend support to the masses of runners, walkers, and wheelchair athletes who have gathered. Keeping with the theme of inclusion paramount in this race, the OKCMM offers a half-marathon, a five-person relay (distances from 5K to 12K), and a 5K walk. A Kid’s Marathon, which promotes motion and fitness by having youngsters log 25 miles in the months leading up to race day, finishes with a 1.2 mile dash around downtown Oklahoma City which starts moments after the marathon. With 3 ½ hours of live television, those not able to hit the streets to cheer can possibly catch a glimpse of their race “favorite” as the morning unfolds.
Marathon Sunday morning has graced Oklahoma City each of its four years with clear skies and a groundswell of nervousness and anticipation apparent at all starting lines. Yet there is a certain ease in many of the runners’ approach. Sometimes wind is a factor. Other days the 6:30a.m.starting time doesn’t deter warm temperatures from having impact. Those factors simply aren’t as paramount at Oklahoma City, for this isn’t just another athletic endeavor. While indeed the presence of elite runners is more evident each year-witness two-time winner and 18th place finisher in the 2004 US Olympic Marathon Trials Conor Holt-the factors that fuel the popularity and nationwide exposure of this race have everything to do with triumph of the human spirit whatever it takes. What better forum for these lessons to be displayed than on the streets of the city that witnessed this horrible terrorist act?
In 2003 the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon posed an enduring wind in the face of the athletes as they headed back towards the Memorial from Lake Hefner, which marks the halfway point of this city-wide tour. Even by Oklahoma standards, it was an inordinate obstacle that day, as normally this slightly rolling course is conducive to fast times. Miles 14 to 17 offered an ample dose of Lake Hefner’s grandeur, but also the days’ most brutal wind. Well-wishes from spectators and teams of volunteers were never more welcome. The character needed at this time in the race reminds one of the reason this event has gained acclaim as a “must run.” Accounts of runners coming from all over the country, young and old, fast and not-so-fast, have a common thread that echoes through their word: Emotion.
Simply put, it brought 63-year-old Dick Esselborn here. A veteran of marathons in the upper echelon of the sport in his age group, Esselborn has raced internationally, and sets his sights on 3:30 as a finishing time when he embraces the marathon. The severity and consistency of the wind that day in 2003 was unprecedented in his marathon pursuits, but to hear him describe his experience is to witness the essence of what runners aspire to glean from the sport. “I told myself to cope with it; in Oklahoma City there was a sense of obligation,” Esselborn stated. “To know that these people died mercilessly, you wanted to do your best to honor their memory. I found myself grateful I had the ability to work that hard. This marathon combines the beauty of everyone coming together for one cause, with the beast, the horrible reason we were brought together.” Esselborn hopes to make Oklahoma City an annual trek, and says the race symbolizes the words of legendary runner Roger Bannister to “….give a little more than you think you’ve got.” Thirteen miles of stiff wind on the back end of a marathon leaves a range of epitaphs-usually none too complimentary-but with sentiments such as Esselborn’s dictating this most unusual feeling at Oklahoma City, most runners wouldn’t have had it any other way.
That marathon in ’03 is still widely talked about, but you feel year after year that race organizers aren’t resting on their laurels, attributing to a great number of “repeat performances” by veteran marathoners, as well as those who made it their inaugural. I can only compare the Marine Corps Marathon (one I’ve run five times) in terms of this race event feeling like a citizen’s race. By that, I mean the volunteers (2,500 strong) seem as excited as the runners to be a part of the day. The volume of the crowds cheering as you’re led from the race start, only steps from the emotion and reverence of the Memorial, leave a lasting impact. Make no mistake though, this is not a depressing day, but uplifting beyond wildest expectations. Even the days leading up to this last Sunday in April are brimming with excitement, with appearances by running legends Dick Beardsley, Frank Shorter, and Bill Rodgers. The two-day Expo has become another source for bragging rights, where pre-race chatter is full of anticipation. The difference is the unprecedented purpose that brings everyone together for this race seems to hold the promise of something unique each year.
Proving the emotional power of this race, a race director of another event changed the date of her race so she could run the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. Co-race director Geneva Hampton’s efforts moved the Little Rock Marathon in Arkansas to early March after missing the ’03 OKCMM to stage the inaugural Little Rock event. Hampton grew up in Oklahoma, and though she hasn’t lived in the state in over two decades, felt an unwavering emotional tie in the aftermath of the bombing. When the marathon was established, she wanted to be part of that first race. Experienced with the distance and with race credits including Stockholm and Chicago, that first Oklahoma City hooked her. The perseverance shown that day in her first Oklahoma City Memorial race is nothing short of the perfect embodiment of this race, and why it came to be.
“I actually ran the last three miles of the first race with a broken foot,” Hampton recounts. “I stepped off a curb and something didn’t feel right. I stopped to stretch, and that was a mistake. But I wanted to finish that day so badly, and kind of carried my leg the rest of the way.” Hampton, who is slight in stature, but determined as she is physically tough, now brings a contingency of marathoners of all abilities to the event annually. Bearing in mind all that she faced in the 2001 race, to say it was a positive experience for her doesn’t do justice to the exuberance she brings to conversations about this race: “It was the best race I’d ever been to.”
We all have been in situations where no matter WHAT the surroundings or history of that particular race present to us, all we’re thinking is: “Where are the aid stations? Where is the crowd?” Anything to provide that much-needed lift so often searched for in the latter stages of a marathon. In Oklahoma City, you notice the plethora of water stops with ample and varied refreshment and volunteers not only emotionally-charged but efficient, a key ingredient especially at “crunch time” when inspiration and fuel are most vital. As you wind through the city to live bands, diverse neighborhoods, something truly unique to Oklahoma City’s race becomes evident: lining the streets throughout much of the race are banners bearing the names of the 168 people lost in the bombing, as poignant an experience when first noted as you can imagine. It’s quickly realized what those names represent, and more than a few have credited the sight of those names for finishing the task on a day that may otherwise have been unconquerable.
While Holt’s winning time of 2:23 is certainly worth noting, this race is anything but geared to “elite” racers only. 2004 Female champion Tracy Evans, a finisher of every Memorial Marathon, ran the final 6 miles having infuriated a hip injury to the point that it altered her gait dramatically in those final miles. The memories she counts as most important? Not her perseverance, her time, even her victory, but this: “One lady ran out of her house……she had been watching the race on TV, and she runs toward me yelling: ‘Thank you for running; I’m so proud of you,’ and you find out that maybe these people lost someone on that day in 1995, or knew of someone who did, and you know there’s a special reason you want to run this race.”
One of the running worlds’ true diplomats, who is seemingly unaware of his celebrity, Bill Rodgers’ unbridled joy for the sport is visible with every word, and the importance Rodgers attaches to this race is clear; “Running is one of the ultimate affirmations we can have in our lives. Running the OKC Marathon brings people together in goodwill and friendliness. It is an act of non-violence, something I believe we can never have too much of, especially with what happened there.”
The overriding message of this marathon and everything leading up to it is one of promoting inclusion. The passion Hill and Collier is infectious, witness the array of volunteers and competitors from all 50 states and multiple countries. That passion was also evident in 2003 when service personnel from our Armed Forces in Saudi Arabia paid homage to lives lost by emulating the OKC Memorial Marathon with their own 26.2 mile trek (complete with official OKCMM numbers sent to them by race officials.)
The theme is pervasive everywhere one turns: kids scurrying down Robinson Avenue in the Kids’ Marathon, walkers accomplishing their mission, special-needs athletes enjoying enthusiastic cheers, and relayers taking in the emotion, revelry and camaraderie of the day. Of course, there’s the main attraction: Over 2000 marathoners, both novice and serious-minded taking on the 26.2 mile challenge in whatever manner they’re able.
One is hard-pressed to be part of the proceedings as a walker, runner, volunteer, or onlooker and not be touched in a lasting manner.
Simply put, this race was established, “To Honor Their Memory, Celebrate Life, Reach For The Future, and Unite The World In Hope.”
Oklahoma City’s an easy place to travel to and get around in, and you’ll find you’re greeted with warmth and appreciation. As well, you may learn and grow in ways that far transcend the sport of running.
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