Pain (Real Pain)

The following is a chronological compilation of my thoughts while running the OKC Memorial Half Marathon. My pain should be read as but a selfish side note to the real reason 22,000 runners laced up their shoes yesterday. To remember.
(In the parenthesis are the names of fifty-four of the 168 victims of the OKC bombing. May they all never be forgotten)

It's early. Waking up at 4:45 is rediculous.
(Baylee Almon, 1, Oklahoma City)

It's cold. The wind is blowing and it's forty-nine degrees out there.
(Elijah S. Coverdale, 2.50, Oklahoma City)

We had to park on the 6th floor of the parking garage and there seems to be no elevator! Plus we're five blocks away from the start line and there are crowds that we will have to fight through.
(Carrol June "Chip" Fields, 48, Guthrie)

The wind is penetrating and I didn't bring my sweatshirt.
(Donald Ray Leonard, 50, Edmond)

I am starting behind ten thousand other runners.
(Kathy Lynn Seidl, 39, Bethel)

Butterflies. I am nervous. My back is starting to hurt just standing here.
(Ted L. Allen, 48, Norman)

Finally we're moving, but it is taking ten minutes just to cross the finish line!
(Donald Earl Burns, Sr., 63, Oklahoma City)

The pace of the runners is way too fast! Don't they know that we shouldn't start out in a sprint! Even if it's downhill. This pace is going to kill me!
(Dr. George Michael Howard, 45, Vallejo, Calif.)

Where's the banner marking one mile? I've been running for nine minutes and I am out of breath. A week in Vegas and I am exhaling second-hand smoke. Where's the banner?
(Jules A. Valdez, 51, Edmond)

My left achilles hurts. I've dealt with Achilles tendonitis for four months now and it's not getting any better.
(Frances "Fran" Ann Williams, 48, Oklahoma City)

Finally hit a mile. Still out of breath. The first water break is another mile away.
(Andrea Yvette Blanton, 33, Oklahoma City)

Still out of breath. Achilles still hurting. Crowded. People are already walking and I am having to dodge them while others behind me try to dodge me. This is madness!
(Kim R. Cousins, 33, Midwest City)

Big hill! I thought OKC was flat! Thighs are burning.
(Thompson Eugene "Gene" Hodges, Jr., 54, Norman)

Two miles down. Skipping the water stop. Passed my wife and mother-in-law because they stopped for water. They will catch me fast because I am out of shape.
(Castine Brooks Hearn Deveroux, 49, Oklahoma City)

Mile three. My pace has slowed. Powerbar for breakfast just isn't doing it for me right now.
(Mary Leasure-Rentie, 39, Bethany)

Mile four. Mile pace has gone from nine to eleven minutes. At least I feel a bit more robotic. Little aches and pains, but this morning's ibuprofen is finally kicked in.
(Patricia Ann Nix, 47, Edmond)

Mile five. Finally feel in a groove. Going through what appears to be a park and residential neighborhood. Plenty of good folks cheering for me. It reminds me that I should be in pain. Was that my back that just tightened?
(John Karl Van Ess III, 67, Chickasha)

Another hill. This one is steep. Hills are my speciality. Dodging plenty of walkers including what appears to be a group of five sorority girls who are no more than a road block.
(Sgt. Benjamin LaRanzo Davis, USMC, 29, Edmond)

Turned the corner at the top of the hill. Man, my right foot has developed a sharp pain I haven't ever felt before.
(James E. Boles, 50, Oklahoma City)

The hill doesn't stop. It just keeps on going. Some guy in a gorilla suit and another dressed like a banana. Any other day this would be cute, but my foot is killing me. Better find a water stop and try to walk this off.
(Richard "Dick" Cummins, 55, Mustang)

Water stop. Walking it off. Pain isn't going away. Pain is getting worse. What the heck?
(Carole Sue Khalil, 50, Oklahoma City)

Running again. Check that. I'm moving at a slightly faster pace than the walkers and I am now limping. I have to finish, but I am worried that I've really messed up my foot and any further running will only worsen matters. Think like a robot. Mind over matter.
(Paul Gregory Beatty Broxterman, 42, Edmond)

Where the heck is 50th street? This is where the half-marathon runners turn around and head back, but we keep paralleling it instead of heading right for it. ENOUGH ALREADY! SURELY I AM AT THE HALFWAY POINT!
(John C. Moss III., 50, Oklahoma City)

Finally, I've made the turnaround. It's all I could think about for the last fifteen minutes, which is probably my pace right now. Over half way done with the race. I would feel for the others who are going straight and have nineteen more miles to go, but I am in much too much pain to consider feeling sympathy for anything other than myself.
(Claude Authur Medearis, S.S.A., 41, Norman)

Wind directly in my face now and gusting. I think I am moving backwards. Pain in my foot has pacified. I can still feel it, but it's not as intense. Maybe all I had to do was run through it. It must be nothing.
(James K. Martin, 34, Oklahoma City)

My wife and mother-in-law are nowhere to be seen. They must be burning up the course. An eighty-year-old man with Albert Einstein hair just passed me. I have serious doubts that I can make it. I am now at the point where I have never run this far before.
(John A. Youngblood, 52, Yukon)

Another turn and we're heading back towards downtown OKC. At least that's what the direction of the sun is telling me. I don't see any buildings yet. How far do I have to go still?
(Peter L. DeMaster, 44, Oklahoma City)

Hitting every water break and trying to walk for fifteen seconds, but when I start to walk, my foot starts to hurt again and it is tough to start up again. Catch 22. If I don't slow down and walk the water breaks my body won't hold out. If I don't get a drink of water, my legs will cramp up and I will end up like any of those people in the grass who are trying to stretch out their cramps. But if I do stop, I feel a thousand needles sticking up through the bottom of my foot!
(Woodrow Clifford "Woody" Brady, 41, Oklahoma City)

The key must be to walk longer at the water breaks. Just have to grin and bear the pain.
(Robbin Ann Huff, 37, Bethany)

Starting up again gets harder and harder. My body says stop. My right foot screams stop. My left achilles says stop. Both my knees say stop. It would be so easy to stop. Is that a building I see up ahead?
(Claudette (Duke) Meek, 43, Oklahoma City)

It was a building, but it is not part of downtown, just a solitary wart sticking up in an otherwise unblemished forearm. For the better part of five minutes I thought I was home free. HOW MUCH FURTHER? SHOULDN'T I SEE DOWNTOWN BY NOW?
(Sonja Lynn Sanders, 27, Moore)

A marathoner just passed me on a sprint. Wow, was he fast. Why didn't I train harder for this? For four months I had the chance. My wife warned me but I balked. All I want to do is lay down in this guy's front yard and let him dig me a six-foot hole.
(Tresia Jo "Mathes" Worton, 28, Oklahoma City)

"Pain, pain go away. Come again another day!"
(Zachary Taylor Chavez, 3, Oklahoma City)

Three miles to go. I've run three miles dozens, nearly hundreds of times before. Forget that I have already run ten miles. Just think you are beginning your run right now, and everything will be alright. Except this foot still hurts. Going to spend a full minute walking this stop.
(Antonio Ansara Cooper Jr., 6 months, Midwest City)

Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Just keep leaning forward. Your feet will automatically catch you.
(Jaci Rae Coyne, 14 months, Moore)

Two miles to go. Another turn. I can finally see the buildings of downtown, but it appears that we are running away from them. How can that be?
(Kevin "Lee" Gottshall II, 6 months, Norman)

Another hill? I thought downtowns were always downhill because they are always set on rivers and everything drains downhill. Does OKC have a river downstream? Why didn't I study the map before I left? Why didn't I stay in bed? Nerve! Nerve!
(Dominique Ravae (Johnson)-London, 2, Oklahoma City)

Got to the top of the hill. That really hurt my foot, and I can feel both calves beginning to cramp. Can't stop now or I will collapse and never get up. Gotta keep moving. My right foot is a rump roast with a carving knife stuck in it. Good news is that some guy on the side told us that it's all downhill from here.
(Pamela Cleveland Argo, 36, Oklahoma City)

HE LIED! ANOTHER HILL!
(Oleta C. Biddy, 54, Tuttle)

Another turn. Running on fumes. I think I will make it. One mile to go. I've done this a thousand times.
(Peachlyn Bradley, 3, Oklahoma City)

I'm in a walk-run now. It looks really stupid, but I can't help it. I want to walk but I will cramp up. My body simply will not run another step, so I have to cast my pride away and look stupid. I really don't care now because some guy just said I only have one-half mile to go. One more turn up ahead.
(Laura Jane Garrison, 61, Oklahoma City)

He lied too. Final turn and I can barely see the finish line banner in the distance. I am crying now and I don't know if it's from pain, from excitement, or just hormones.
(Thomas Lynn Hawthorne, Sr., 52, Choctaw)

Crowd gets thicker. Everyone is cheering us on. I only have one-quarter of a mile to go, and I swore I couldn't run another step, but I have to kick it. Whatever I have left, I am letting it all go now.
(Raymond "Lee" Johnson, 59, Oklahoma City)

Sprinting for all I am worth. Passing people left and right. Cheering. Did I kick it too soon? I still have two hundred yards to go and I can feel my chest tightening up. Mind over matter. It's all just an illusion. There is no pain. No cramps. Plenty of air. My foot feels great. My thighs are two pistons. This is the moment of glory. I can do it!
(Rev. Gilbert X. Martinez, 35, Oklahoma City)

A few more steps to go. Crowd is going crazy, but not because of me. The womens' marathon winner is right on my heels in the other lane and she has competition that will push her to within one-tenth of a second at the finish line.
(Emilio Tapia, 50, Oklahoma City)

I cross the finish line totally spent. I have nothing left. A marathon worker has to grab me by the arm to lead me on so that I don't create a jam at the finish line. I think I am going to fall over. I need something to hold on to.
(LaRue A. Treanor, 55, Guthrie)

They give me a medal and a mylar blanket. Do I need the blanket? I am hot. I am dizzy. Maybe I should use it as a pillow. Right here on the street would be a good place to lay down.
(Julie Marie Welch, 23, Oklahoma City)

There's my wife and mother-in-law. They finished ten minutes ahead of me and look as if they are out on a Sunday morning stroll. They congratulate me. I search for something intelligent to say, but it all comes out in short choppy bursts that make no sense. I see a look of worry in my wife's face as she tells me to grab onto the fence to keep from falling over.
(Sharon Louise Wood-Chesnut, 47, Oklahoma City)

I pound two Power Aids, two peanut butter cookies and a hamburger. I am thirsty and hungry but none of it tastes good at all. I am waiting to throw up. Gotta get out of the crowd so I don't hit someone's shoes.
(Steven Douglas Curry, 44, Norman)

"I hurt my foot. I think it's broken." These are the words I get out once my brain is working again. I can barely put any weight on it. It's a five-minute walk back to the parking garage. It takes me twenty minutes.
(Rebecca Needham Anderson, 37, Midwest City)

Six flights of stairs. Another twenty minutes.
(Anita Christine Hightower, 27, Oklahoma City)

Finally to the vehicle. Both of these women are deeply concerned and I try to tell them that I will be fine to aleviate their fears, but the decision is made to take me straight to the urgent care.
(Kathryn Elizabeth Ridley, 24, Oklahoma City)

An hour later I am getting x-rayed.
(Robert N. Chipman, 51, Edmond)

X-Rays negative. No breaks. Ice. Elevation. Mass quantities of Ibuprofen. I hurt. I am glad there's no break, but I also feel a bit like a wimp. Maybe all the pain was psychological. Waking up the next morning tells me a different story.
(Trudy Jean Rigney, 31, Midwest City)

A day after the race now and I am limping around. Pain is relative. I will get over this minor setback and all will be well (but on April 19th, 1995, 168 men, women, children, and babies lost their lives because of evil.) Every time I felt pain during the race, I looked up at the (banners that spelled out the names of the victims of this horrible tragedy.) Tonight I pray (for the families of the deceased) and I pray (that the world may finally learn how to learn from the past. May God bless us all with this wisdom.)