2010 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon

First off, I’d like to wish a very happy anniversary to my parents, who were married 48 years ago today. Here’s to a remarkable run so far, and many more anniversaries to come.

13. Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon – Oklahoma City, Okla. – April 25, 2010

The Memorial in Oklahoma City may be the best

and most beautiful I have seen anywhere

I was supposed to run this race the year before but had to defer because my sciatic nerve prevented me from running any distance. The race directors were kind enough to let me defer to 2010, and even though I was not prepared to run it as a target race, I was excited to run it. I arrived on Friday and walked a few blocks to the expo to pick up my race packet, which included a ticket to the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. I was a student at the University of Kansas on that April morning in 1995, when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed, and I had a lot of friends from OKC. While the tragedy did not affect me directly, I remember the emotion hitting me and I felt terrible for all those who died and all those people who loved them.

I went to the Memorial, which is one of the most beautiful and powerful tributes I’ve ever seen. I spent several minutes reflecting before going into the museum. I’ve never been so glad I walked through a museum. They did an absolutely amazing job of capturing that day and teaching the history of what happened. Mostly, I was impressed with the way they showed the outpouring of the community and law enforcement in the days following the bombing. It was truly inspirational to see how people came together and how human spirit flourished after such a horrible event. I would strongly encourage anyone visiting Oklahoma City to go to the museum.

Everything about the race is a tribute to those who lost their

lives in the bombing, as well as all the amazing heroes and

human spirit in the aftermath

That night, I met my friend Stephen Howard and his girlfriend, Kirbie (who would get engaged at the starting line the next morning), as well as a few of their friends. We went to an Italian restaurant in the Bricktown district and had a nice dinner, filled with carbs. The Oklahoma City Thunder were playing a playoff game against the Lakers right next door to my hotel. I wandered over, trying to find a cheap single ticket after dinner, but there was literally nobody selling any, so I went back to the hotel and watched the game on television. The team was relatively new and was just beginning to get good, so the excitement around this series was contagious, especially since it’s the first and only professional team in any sport in the state. It was fun to witness.

This race is a memorial to the 168 people who lost their lives in the bombing, beginning with 168 seconds of silence at the starting line. The utter silence took my breath away. The entire course was lined with 168 banners hanging from the light posts, each with the name of one of the victims.

The course is lined with 168 banners like these,

one for each of the lives lost on April 19, 1995

There was a fairly strong headwind during the first half of the race, which is basically a narrow loop north to Lake Hefner, which was almost like an out-and-back only on different streets. I was fighting the wind and I couldn’t believe that another runner was wearing a hula-hoop that had plastic sunrays on it. It looked like it was acting like a parachute creating resistance with every step. I passed him, got a few steps past him and then couldn’t resist. I turned and asked why he was dressed as the sun. He told me that his friend named Sonny was killed in the bombing, so he dresses up as the Sun(ny) as a tribute to his friend. Sonny always tried to make people around him feel happier, so this runner thought dressing as the sun might do the same for runners during the marathon. I immediately went from thinking the guy was a tool to thinking he was one of the coolest people I’ve ever met.

People like that were all over the place in this race. In fact, it seemed that everyone I talked to during the run was directly affected by the bombing. I share a name with one of the children who was killed in the daycare center. I had read about him the day before and knew there would be a lot of people running in memory of him. Of course, I decided to dedicate my run to him, as well.

During every step of this race, I was awed by the spirit of Oklahoma City. It felt like everyone in that city decided to make themselves and their city better after the tragedy. The organization of this race was first rate, and it served as an excellent memorial to 168 victims, as well as everyone else affected by a terrible tragedy. I crossed the finish line at 3:59, but knew I got a lot more out of the race than a finisher’s medal. I would recommend this race to everyone.