Photo: Colorado Runner assistant editor Patty Griffiths shows off her half marathon medal. Tne marathon finish was set in a beautiful park along the Colorado River with wonderful views of downtown Austin.

When you have a goal of running a marathon in all 50 states, sometimes you're not always ready for each race. That was the case with state number 28 in my quest for 50 states. Living in Colorado, it is sometimes difficult to train during the winter months due to the weather. Unfortunately, I cannot use that excuse this year as our weather has been atypically warm (40-50 degrees) with not a lot of snow. So, my excuse would have to be a lack of motivation to train.

Last year I had stopped running marathons to focus on putting all of my energy into running fast at the Chicago Marathon. That turned into a disaster. I hit the wall at 15 miles and ran the last 5K in 40 minutes, which was slower than I had run the first 10K! After that, I had a total mental breakdown and a lack of desire to train. I basically took the rest of the year off, running three to five miles here and there. Finally, in January I decided to start training again, but with a different goal in mind - trail races. See, I love running on the trails, so why not train to race them?

Well, I began training again in January. The problem was that I had already committed to run the Freescale Marathon in Austin with my father, who is also trying to run a marathon in every state. So, here I was five weeks out, with no training. "I can do this," I thought. "It is only 26 miles and I have already run 40 marathons, so my legs will remember." I decided that I would just get through it and not worry about time. I thought if I took my camera with me I would be more concerned with taking good pictures than with my time.

With only one run over two hours and a few over 1:45, I flew to Austin. My parents were already in town, since they have some friends living in Austin who had invited us to stay at their house. I arrived at 11:45 to see rain and 50 degrees. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Fifty degrees is better than 80 degrees, right?

After my parents picked me up at the airport and we had lunch, we decided to drive the course. When I arrived, I thought Austin was flat. But amazingly, the course seemed to be almost all downhill! (Well, not like the Slacker Half Marathon or the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half). As we were driving the course, my dad was saying that this was going to be a very difficult race for him. He had been fighting an infection for two weeks and had been unable to run at all. At least the cut- off was eight hours, so if need be, he could walk the whole way.

Race morning arrived and it was raining, so I decided to leave my camera behind. I would just have to run slow and make sure I got through it. After an opening 7:45 mile (which felt very easy considering I was 5,200 feet lower), I began to settle into pace. The rain had stopped and it was starting to get a little humid, but the temperature was still cool (for Texas) as it was in the low 50's. Because of the course being slightly downhill, I was running close to 7:00 minutes per mile and feeling OK. This was a shock, since I had not been running much. The halfway point of the race was right next to the football stadium on the University of Texas campus. Why didn't the Half Marathon finish on the 50 yard line? That would be really cool! Right after the halfway point (which I crossed in 1:31:30, much faster than I had planned) we started up a very step hill that lasted for two blocks. To my surprise, I felt good up this hill. Maybe the change from the downhill would help.

Photo: Colorado Runner contributing photographer and writer Allen Griffiths makes his way to the finish. This was state number 28 in his quest to run a marathon in all 50 states.

As we made the turn past the capitol building and into downtown, I was fully expecting my legs to start hurting. I had run 14 miles at a pace faster than anticipated, so I was expecting the worst. But, to my surprise, I didn't fade. As the course began to roll out of town along the Colorado River, my legs actually began to feel better. "It must be all of that trail running," I told myself. Since I train on hills, I seem to run better on them. I was passing people left and right and this lifted my spirits. I had been running sub-7 for the last 10 miles or so and now actually felt like I might have a chance to break three hours.

Twenty miles down, 10K to go. This is when it really gets fun, right? I passed 20 miles in 2:17 which meant I need to maintain seven minute pace to break three hours. The one thing that is interesting about this course, and sort of disheartening, is the bridge that you pass at 20 miles. You see, if you cross over this bridge, you will get to the finish line. As I was running past this bridge, I could hear the music and crowds and announcer at the finish line. Not really something you want to hear at 20 miles of a marathon. But, I kept pushing.

I ran the next three miles in 20:15, so I was still under 3:00 pace. That is when it hit me. "Well, 23 miles at this pace is a good run considering my training," I thought. So, I backed off a bit. I ran 6:50 for mile 24. Wow! That wasn't too bad. Maybe I can still break 3:00. I had to push the 25th mile because it was slightly uphill. But I knew if I made it though that one, it was all downhill for the last mile. 6:45! Yea Haw!!

This is when it happened. I passed the three hour pace leader and guess what? He had one person with him. I smiled as I passed and the one guy came along for the ride. "You are really negative splitting aren't you," he said. "That is the only way to do it," I told him. "Let's go get three hours."

I picked it up on the slight downhill and ran my last mile in 6:20 to finish in 2:59:20. I high-fived the guy who tagged along for the last half mile and then waited on the pace leader to see how he did. 3:00:01! Perfect. Just like the race was for me. I had run 1:31:30 and 1:27:50. That is a good negative split and totally unexpected. I was ecstatic. I guess all of that trail running is a good thing.

Now I had to wait on my dad. I met my mother at the finish. She had run the half in a good time of 2:38, so she was also in a great mood. We called dad at four hours into the race, expecting the worst. "Yeah, I am at 20 miles and starting to fade. I will be there in 75 to 90 minutes." We were really surprised to hear this, considering that he had not been running. Ninety minutes came and went and there was no sign of him. We called back and found out that he was only at 24 miles. The sun had come out and the temperature was really beginning to rise. It was about 75 degrees by now.

Mom and I found a restaurant that was serving beer in the parking lot right at the 26 mile mark, so we got a cold one and waited. Finally, dad showed up, not looking so hot, but still moving forward. At this point he was walking, but he decided to try and run the last 200 meters, which he was able to do. 5:47:18. Not his best, but at least he finished and got the state.

All in all, this event was very well organized and well run with 4,958 finishers in the marathon and 3,798 finishers in the half marathon. The course was fast and the town was fun and scenic. From Colorado, there were 35 marathon finishers and 25 half marathon finishers. The top Coloradans were Chris Thibert of Denver (79th in 2:55:18) and Traci Winterbottom of Colorado Springs (52nd in 3:28:50). The top area male marathoner was James McGown of Shelton, NE who finished 19th overall in 2:30:52 and the top area female marathoner was Susan Brozik of Albuquerque, NM who finished 7th overall in 3:03:38. The top area male half marathoner was Brantley Lutz from Albuquerque, NM who was the overall winner in 1:07:54. The top area female half marathoner was Jennifer Prim from Shawnee, KS, finishing 4th in 1:23:54. The top Coloradans were Nicholas Flores of Boulder (85th in 1:29:47) and Cathy Condon of Boulder (53rd in 1:39:17).

1. A group of runners crossing the 26th mile in their quest to finish the Freescale Austin Marathon.

2. The sight that all marathoners are looking for.

3. The finish area prior to the arrival of the masses.

4. The prize that all 50 staters are after. When you are not feeling well, this is one thing that you can think of to help you get through the marathon. 28 states down, 22 to go. Next up, New Mexico.

5. Sarah Evans of Atlanta celebrates her finish in 3:47:59.

6. Mikhail Khobotov of Germantown, MD cruises to victory in 2:12:38, more than a minute in front of the second place finisher.

7. Tatiana Borisova wins the female tite in 2:31:01, and avereage of 5:46/mile.

8. The perfect post race refreshment!

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