Man Spends Final 8 Miles of Marathon Regretting Every Decision That Led to Final 8 Miles of Marathon
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A runner in a local marathon yesterday spent the final eight miles of the event questioning and second-guessing every decision he made that led him to those final eight miles, Dumb Runner has learned, beginning with his choice to take up running at age 25.
Marshall Mathers, 44, had plenty of time to rue those choices, sources said, as his pace for that final stretch fell from 6:55 minutes per mile to 7:30 and, ultimately, to 8:45.
“Why am I doing this?” Mathers asked himself, according to sources who described his facial expression changing from “determined,” “relaxed,” or “neutral” to “concerned,” “confused,” and “sort of like a grimace.”
The changes occurred around mile 18, the sources said, and worsened over the remainder of the race.
Mathers’ regrets included, but were not limited to:
Agreeing at age 25 to sign up for his first 5K with a friend—a decision that would spark his running habit;
Making the leap from the half-marathon to the full about two years later;
Not “retiring” from marathons after running a personal best time of 2:58 at age 31, a time he was certain never to match again;
Registering for the race;
Deciding two weeks prior to the race not to transfer his bib number to a friend who wanted it;
Failing to train properly for the event, despite having plenty of time to do so;
Lining up at the start despite not feeling 100 percent;
Failing to drop out of the race at the halfway point, when he had a chance to hop a bus to the finish.
Reached for comment at a brewpub about two hours after the marathon, Mathers told Dumb Runner that his race was “not bad” and that he looked forward to lowering his time at his next marathon, scheduled for late November.
