Memories of running The Rock half marathon

by Shawn Williams of of Dallas South

Sunday's running of the White Rock marathon reminded me of my foray into running back in 2004 when I ran The Rock's half marathon. My training went very well until I came down with a sinus infection 2 weeks before the race. Even though I lived in Grand Prairie at the time, I did most of my training at Kiest Park. To this day I don't know if that track is 2.2 miles or 2.8 miles.

Anyway on race day it seemed like everything was conspiring against me. I'd only run in my shoes once, it was way too cold, and I couldn't get my MP3 player to work. All that added to a poor last week of training had me pretty shaky at the start.

But I have some great memories from that chilly December day. There were the bands playing along the course and people in the neighborhoods who cheered us on. The creative water stations spread throughout. The makeshift bathrooms runners used. I also have a vivid picture in my head of the Kenyan brothers passing me on their 22nd mile while I was on my 9th.

Best of all is the fact that I finished the race. My foot had a blister on it the size of a Kennedy half-dollar, and I could barely walk to the car, but I finished. My wife, son, and mother were waiting on me outside the AAC, and I felt this great sense of accomplishment. I did however spend the next 18 hours or so in bed.

Being the competitive guy that I am I had to see where my time would place me. The Morning News had the top three finishers in each age group by gender. I was extremely surprised to see that in my first attempt, my time landed me 3rd place. . .in the 60-64 year old women's division.