I am gonna start by saying DAMN that is intense...

My best sports memory was recently. I was running a HIM down at Lake Anna VA. In the morning it was drizzling and just crap weather by the time I was 75% done the ground had mostly dried up. By the run the road was clean and clear. I felt great I kept saving up for some daunting exhaustion that I was sure was gonna hit me at any second. Well it never came and my average mile before the final mile was 930 or so. I sprinted the last mile in the 6's... Man it was great to have that much left.

I think the only one that is close to that for me was my first marathon the USMC in Oct 05. Damn what an accomplishment for me.

I have a lot of great race memories.
My first 5k, My first sprint triathlon...

I think my first big milestone was my first marathon.
The Marine Corps Marathon 2003.
It was a very warm day and I was hurting but I passed the Iwo Jima memorial and finished to a loud crowd. I saw my 2 daughters at the finish line and gave them sweaty hugs.

That felt awesome!!

I have enjoyed every race since:D

The 1970 Allegany County Cross Country Champs at the old Cumberland golf course out on the Oldtown road.
It was my first running race. I was on the "B" (slow) squad. I ran in Chuck Taylors. White. It's all we had money for. There wasn't much else out there.
Went out too hard...blew up. Finished. Threw up. Survived. Thrived.
Dad watched. ( I miss him.)
I quit the football team and marching band two days later. I ran. Slow. Often alone. Never looked in the rear view mirror.

The race I met Mike at.

The race Mike won overall and I won my age group (a first for him, and a first for me with a field of that size).

Mile 20 of the marathon in my first IM when, as I was about to slow, someone told me "If you hold that pace you'll break 14 hours". I kept going -- my "perfect day" time guestimate had been 15 hours.

Qualifying for Boston. . .
It was my 4th marathon up in Susanville CA, it was a slight down grade, but on railroad trails and after a long end to my tri season, I decided I wasn't in Boston shape and would just run the race for fun. I didn't even look at my watch for the first five or six miles, it was somewhere around mile 15 when I felt really good and realized that I was on pace and at mile 20, I figured out I could almost walk the last 6 and still qualify. All of a sudden this dream I had since I was a little girl was about to happen; I think I ran the last six in with a ridiculous grin on my face. When I saw my friends right before the finish I starting yelling "I'm going to Boston!"

The last 800m of IMC 2005 with the pain in the quads so intense that I could hardly run and wanting to. Then a vague memory of crossing the finishline while holding the left hand of my daughter and the right hand of my son.

IM Germany was by far the best overall experience (you can see my race report at: [url]http://www.ironman.de/english/default.htm)[/url]. After a near mental breakdown at mile 9 of the mararthon, I can clearly hear my husband's mother (who is Swiss) yell "Andrea, you can do it!" A few miles later, I told my husband, "This is the stupidest thing I've ever done!!!" But I still get gooesbumps thinking of running through the finsher's chute and that feeling of accomplishment and victory for finishing something I didn't think possible.

That reminds me of the last Half Marathon I ran. I ran with this lady and kept her in pace and she actually won for all of the females. I sprinted ahead at mile 9 so I would hit the mile 11 with about a 1/4 to 1/2 mile ahead so I could tell her that there was definately no one in front of her and how far behind people were. It was nice to run for something greater then myself. I never knew the lady and never talked to her later but she was a really nice person.

I love the USMC marathon. It was so cool being enlisted Air Force and crossing the finish line and having Marines of all people giving me high fives and I even had a 1st Lieutenant put a medal on me and offer to untie my shoes to get the timing chip off. As a "enlisted" and "air force" getting respect from Marines and even commissioned officers is a huge deal. The Marines there are just such cool helpful people.

My first tri. It was short sprint: 1/4mile swim, 6 mile bike, 2 mile run. But I did it after a year of being unable to exercise and trying with my doctor to figure it out. We finally realized that I needed a pacemaker. Then it was another year to get it adjusted. So after 2 frustrating years it was such an achievement to be able to do that short triathlon. I'd been given my life back.

Wow, that's so awesome! I am always so impressed with the things people overcome in this sport. Way to go!

Thank you to all who have posted. I am doing my first tri in NYC in july. My wife is going with me and this has upped the motivation. I want to pass people, do really well and see her at the finish.

Doing my first Sprint distance in Aug 06. I knew that I could get through the swim, and the bike would be no problem, as I had ridden a few centuries with Team in Training. Up to that point though I had never run farther than 2mi, being an ex football player with bad knees. The high 5's from my 4yr old daughter and 2 yr old son as I ran down the chute could have propelled me another 3 miles. Yes i was slow and exhausted by the end, but what a feeling of accomplishment. Went on to sign up for an Olympic, completed Nov 06, and am now training for the Oceanside HIM in 6 weeks. Another first as I haven't ever run more than 9miles in training.

86kph is moving along pretty good man congrats