We drop her off near the gathering of 20,000 runners. She looks a little tense. We head off to the 4mi mark and wait.

At the start, during the national anthem, the sound system fails. Immediately runners begin singing and bringing new life to the sweet song. It's enough to bring tears to Robin's eyes. And moments before, amidst the crowds, she ran into her friend and fellow teacher, Tracy!

At 4mi we see her and she looks totally relaxed! Her pace is 8:05/mile (her goal is 8:00/mile). Ahead of her is an impressive group of Kenyans running 4:50/mile, followed by the pro women running 5:30/mile, and a group of Elvis Presley look-a-likes, and thousands of others, most of which don't look like they should be starting out this fast. Guys that look like bodybuilders, with bare chests stuck out, running 6:30/miles.... I can't help but doubt they can maintain that.

At 6.2mi, Robin starts a long uphill on Hwy 163, through Balboa Park. The entire freeway is closed for them. Cheering spectators line a bridge 100ft overhead. She remembers this and Hwy 163 as the highlight of the course.

At 10mi some of the runners call out to me, surprised to see a guy with a broken leg showing up all along the course. I owe it to Robin's parents who followed my frantic orienteering to get us through the city to all the checkpoints. Robin's pace has actually picked up to 8:00/mile. She's gaining on the Elvis imposters.

At 15mi, the Elvis imposters are nowhere to be seen, the sky is slightly overcast, the temperature is perfect, and Robin is still at 8:00/mile after circling Vacation Island in Mission Bay.

At 20mi, we perch ourselves near the last climb. It's small but at this point of the race, it probably feels like a ski slope. Some spectators hold a giant sign "Welcome to the Wall!" (which is what the 20 mile point is called). Sure enough, many runners are now walking, stopping, stretching tight muscles, or shaking their heads in sweaty disbelief that the fun has turned to serious work.

I don't see the "rabbits" anymore; the guys and girls that went out too fast. But then we see Robin, going even faster! She moved up 16 places in her age group to 28th. She's been averaging 7:58/mile. Now she's showing sweat (or is that perspiration?) for her hard work. She tells me she saw a couple of our friends a ways back. I think, if she's socializing, she must be doing ok. Now, finally, I fell pretty sure she's going to reach her goal of 3:30:00. But she's in uncharted territory now.

3 weeks ago she ran a 20 mile training run at 8:35/mile pace. 20 miles was the farthest she'd ever gone, and that run was the fastest; thanks to some great help by Rich, Steve, Matt, Dwight, and Molly who paced different segments with her. Now we would not see her until the finish. She was on her own to go beyond the 20 mile point... although she would say she is never actually alone.

We didn't know, but her hamstrings were bothering her the entire run. She took Ibuprofen to help manage the pain. But she said being aware of the hamstring soreness helped keep her mind off how long and difficult the miles were.

The last 6 miles of a marathon are considered as hard as the first 20. But Robin picked up the pace to 7:47/mile! She didn't realize it, but a friend and good runner, Sally Pyle, from her Cross Country days was also in the race and currently ahead of her. Robin kept the pace, passed Sally, moved up 10 places and finished at 3:28:33 in 18th place out of 1,955 in her age group. Wow, I think it was as exciting for me as it was for her.

She's very sore now, but very happy with it all! Despite being thrashed, she says the marathon was fun and actually is looking forward to future ones.

Thanks for your support.

God Bless!