Running for two

Yesterday my husband ran in his 11th Chicago Marathon and his 14th marathon overall.  While that's a great accomplishment, there are some people who have already run fourteen marathons this year alone.  So G, if you think you're hot . . . you're not -- move to the back of the line.

Moses Mosop of Kenya was the Chicago Marathon men's winner.  With a time of 2:05:27, Mosop set a new course record.  He claimed he was only able to run at 85% of his optimal fitness because of an injury that set him back in his training schedule.  Had he been at full strength, he speculated that he could have run 2:02!  Mosop's win was definitely impressive, but he wasn't the most impressive competitor of the day.  So Moses Mosop, move to the back of the line.

For the first time in Chicago Marathon history, a runner won for the third year in a row.  No runner, male or female, had ever achieved a three-peat until Liliya Shobukhova of Russia won the women's division on Sunday.  Shobukhova's 2:18:20 finish was almost two minutes faster than her personal best and it was four minutes faster than the second place female finisher and all but twelve of the male competitors.  Only one woman, Paula Radcliffe, has run a faster marathon (three marathons actually) than Shobukhova.  Since she won the 2010 Chicago Marathon, Shobukhova has earned $1,335,000 in prize money and bonuses.  For the 2011 win she earned $100,00 for her first place finish and a $40,000 bonus for running faster than 2:20.  All of this adds up to a bunch of truly impressive achievements, but there was still one runner at the marathon who accomplished something that Shobukhova, not to mention my husband and Moses Mosop, could ever hope to duplicate.  So move to the end of the line Liliya -- let me know if you need any help carrying your winnings.  : )

One amazing woman finished long after Shobukhova, Mosop, and most of the rest of the runners.  This woman was competing in her 8th marathon.  Her personal best was 3:25, but on Sunday, she finished the race in 6:25.50.  Some people would consider it a failure to add three hours to a PR, but for Amber Miller, running, and walking, the race course from start to finish on October 9, 2011 was a greater accomplishment than anything most of the other runners could imagine.

What made Amber's marathon experience so amazing and unique?  She was running for two!

Amber was pregnant -- 39 weeks pregnant, days from delivery -- when she competed in and completed the marathon.  She had run two other marathons while pregnant (one early in her first pregnancy and the second in May of this year when she was 17 weeks pregnant).  Her doctor cleared her to compete as long as she ran half and walked half of the 26.2 miles.  Additionally, her husband ran with her to keep an eye on her.  It seemed like Amber and her husband had prepared for everything, but they didn't anticipate what happened three-fourths of the way into the race.  Amber began to have contractions.

Apparently Amber had previously experienced a few contractions in her training runs, but the contractions always stopped.  This time the contractions didn't stop and by the time she crossed the finish line, her contractions were approximately five minutes apart.  Most women head to the hospital at that point, but Amber had just run a marathon and she was hungry.  So she had a sandwich!  And then she and her husband made their way to the hospital (the same hospital in the western suburbs where I delivered my three children -- except for the one that was born in the ambulance on the way to the hospital!).

At 10:29 p.m., fifteen hours after the start of the marathon and seven hours after Amber crossed the finish line, baby June Audra, all 7 pounds 13 ounces of her, made her entrance into the world.

After the marathon lots of runners probably headed home to take a shower and put their feet up.  Amber went to the hospital and essentially entered into another marathon, the physical endeavor that is known as labor and delivery.  In the many interviews that she gave today, Amber admitted that, compared to labor, running a marathon is easy.  I imagine that many women would happily run a marathon and many women would gladly endure the painful exertion of labor, but I doubt that anyone would willingly agree to do both on the same day!

In my opinion, Amber Miller is the undisputed champion of the Chicago Marathon.  Not only did she finish the race and receive her shiny mylar wrap and finisher's medal, but she was also able to claim a "prize" that will be precious to her long after the other trinkets have been thrown out or stowed away in a drawer.

Congratulations Amber -- maybe one day you and June Audra will cross the finish line together again!