conquering my first Marathon
1- the Soweto Marathon, Soweto, South Africa,2 November 2014 “The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” I will never forget the above words (by ― John Bingham, No Need for Speed: A Beginner's Guide to the Joy of Running) stuck on a big board as I was struggling going up one of the last few hills on the Soweto Marathon, 2014 route. I had been walking for about 3 kilometers. I had nothing left in the fuel tank. I had started believing the legend around the Marathon distance. Legend has it that the first man ever to run the Marathon distance, Pheidippides, ran about 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to deliver a message of the Athenian army’s victory over the Persians. He arrived in Athens, shouted “Nenikikamen” (“Rejoice we conquer”) and collapsed and died (https://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Legendary-Runner-of-Marathon-Pheidippides) I had sprinted the earlier downhill parts of the race. I was completely out