David Carruthers

Run Like an Animal

It is Saturday morning September 13th. I plan a day of rest, staying off my feet as much as possible. I picked up my race number and timing chip for tomorrow’s Lewis and Clark Marathon yesterday. With all the hard work in training complete (I have run over 1000 miles since my first marathon in April this year!) I thought I would share a moment from the finish on my last tempo run this last Wednesday.

I usually run tempo sessions on a Wednesday night as part of the St Lewis Track Club Pace Race series. This week, on completing my 4.2 miles in a 27:11 just under 6:30 per mile, I heard Jill, the lady who calls out the time as you cross the finish line, say “he runs like an animal!”. I assume she was commenting on my reputation for running hard?

Well, her words of encouragement have permeated and this will be my mantra for tomorrow in the marathon, I intend to “Run Like an Animal”. So, not the distance of 26.2 miles, not ‘hitting the wall’, not even Hurricane Ike will stop me tomorrow.

I shall be targeting a time under 3:00:00

More reflections from the finish line will follow tomorrow.


David Carruthers 13th September