5 hours and 2 or so minutes after the start, I finished the marathon. It really wasn't an ideal time (as I was shooting to finish in about 4:30 or so), but considering the circumstances I was just happy to finish at all. Much of our group finished very well, even recording personal bests. Others were in my camp, and a few didn't finish at all for various reasons, but I think we all had some masochistic version of "fun" on the course. Dan Pfarr from Bolder Options was my running buddy since we were shooting for around the same time, and for the first half of the race we were both doing pretty well. My lungs were alright, the top of my foot hurt a little but it wasn't slowing me down, Dan's cold was bothersome but not a terrible hindrance, and we were on pace for about a 4:34. I even sang a little of "Livin' on a Prayer" at mile 13 (21.1 KM). Shortly thereafter, however, we both started to feel some pain. Eventually Dan was feeling so crappy that he told me to go ahead because he wasn't sure he'd make it, and unfortunately he didn't. I learned at the end that he was taken off the course in an ambulance because he wound up puking his brains out in some bushes. It was sad. What was also sad was that I had no more running buddy to drag me along. I, too, puked a couple of times, but that's sort of normal for me. I think the second time I puked, though, was just a response to the intense pain in the top of my right foot. I'd been having pain there for the last couple of long runs, but by about 30 KM it really started to get bad. Cobblestones and downhills were my enemy, as these only intensified the pain. I wasn't about to not finish, though, so I did a run/walk/hobble combination for much of the end of the race. I was feeling pretty crappy at the end and was walking, but then Chris Hawkey (the DJ from KFAN) and Jill, teammates of mine, came up behind me and dragged me along with them. We had less than a 1K to go, and we booked it into the stadium and to the finish line. My picture at the finish line is probably pretty awesome, as I'm smiling hugely because finally the race was fun again. I even did a little (very painful) bell kick after I crossed the line. So that was fun. We're all barely walking now, which should be amusing since most of us are going into Helsinki today to tour about. I hope my foot doesn't break, though I have a sneaking suspicion that it already has. I definitely will be visiting the podiatrist when I return. Now it's time I shower and get ready for the day in Helsinki. Like I said, I'm really glad to be done. I'm going to have to check on the status of my foot before thinking about Twin Cities... but we'll see if maybe I'll be able to run and shoot for a better time. Again, I promise to post more pictures soon/eventually, but as it's my last full day in Finland, I'm out to enjoy it.

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