I'm hope from the San Diego Urban Challenge. I am in not inconsiderable pain, though I won't complain about it. I'm feeling the soreness one would expect to feel after such an endeavor. I was not prepared from the pain in my shoulders, from running with a backpack on, something I am not used to, but overall, I'd say I'm just feeling the pain of the victorious, along with considerable pride.

I was very nervous going into this event. I was not in the best shape of my life. My training took a three-week-plus hiatus when I was sick, and it was very hard to get back out on the pavement, with the heat and humidity being unbearable at times. I believe I got one four-mile run in, other than that, I don't believe I'd run over a half-hour or so in almost two months. On Thursday, my last run, I stopped with shoulder pain after 22 minutes. Not a good sign right before a five-hour race. But this was a run right after work, when I was tired and not in the best nutritional shape to run. On Saturday I'd be up bright and early, and would give it my best.

My other concern was my partner. I was vaguely under the impression that he was training, but wasn't sure. He entered a 5K with me, but failed to show up for it. I selected him, partly, because I knew whatever happened, he wouldn't outshine me (to put it more diplomatically, and actually more accurately in tune with my thoughts, I selected him because I knew I wouldn't look back at the race and think I cost him a victory). Of course, I also selected him because he is my friend and I knew I'd have fun with him. But I was definately more worried about his performance than my own.

I got up at 6 AM, had coffee and half a granola bar. I'd never drunk coffee before a race before, since it can unsettle my stomach, but I had a bit of a headache the day before and worried about caffeine withdrawl. So I drank half a cup (which is about equivalent of one mug, when talking about my oversized travel cup). I never did pee on the course, so it didn't seem to have any negative side effects. I picked up my partner (since I'm probably going to be a touch nasty--though kind in the end--I'm not using his name) around 6:50, and we headed to Horton's Sports Bar, in the Westin. Nice place, though a touch small for this event. I was unable to get a seat, so after picking up our race numbers, trivia contest answer form, and camera, we had to stand in the back waiting for the trivia contest to begin. The trivia contest determines which of five waves you will go out with. We placed in wave 2.

The start was being broadcast live on NBC, so they actually got it underway very quickly. Too quickly, perhaps, as they seemed confused about what to do next. They sent out my wave shortly after, directing us to the NBC studio where the first group started. But no sooner had we arrived there, but they sent us back to where we started. I still don't quite understand why, but it was not a big deal. We were soon allowed to begin for keeps, received our clue book, and took off. The first clue referred to a statue to the West, so we, of course, immediately headed North. It turned out alright, as we discovered the third checkpoint in the process, so it saved us time later. We got on the phone with Cecily, our internet contact (you're allowed, and encouraged, to have help via cell phone contacts), and quickly found the name of the Mexican president whose monument we were seeking. But we never found the monument. We spend 40 minutes at least, before giving up. We just had to hope we'd find the skip chick, which would allow us to miss one checkpoint. But there was no guarantee we'd find her. And if we didn't, once we took the second checkpoint's picture, we couldn't win (of course, we weren't going to place first...when I say win, I mean receive a medal for finishing in under 5 hours, with all twelve checkpoints photographed in order, or eleven in order with the skip chick in their somewhere).

Checkpoint two involved a math problem. I had Cecily help with the math, not having a calculator, and got an answer. But I'd misread the question to her, and got a street address far, far off. Along the way, wondering how they could send us so far down, when the next checkpoint is back where we started, I realized my mistake, and redid the math. I again made an error, but fortunately was only off by 4 or so, and discovered the address I had didn't exist, and at the same time saw people being photographed at a nearby barber shop. So we got ours taken, too.

So far, I've refrained from discussing my teammate during all this. When I picked him up, he commented on something he'd seen on their website, telling me, "You never told me about this 5 to 10 mile bullshit." I told him when I first asked him to be my teammate, that the web site says to expect to run 5 to 10 miles. So that worried me. But I really didn't expect him to crash and burn in the first mile. I started a bit fast, being excited, but when he commented on that, I slowed down and tried to set a reasonable pace. But he really gave up quickly. Between that, and our failure in finding the statue (which I take full responsibility for), I was really worried about whether we'd finish, and was rather pissed off at my partner.

After my partner finally finished walking to the second checkpoint, I told him I'd run ahead, since we'd already been to the third checkpoint earlier. While I waited for him to catch up, I could call Cecily and work out the rest of the checkpoints. This was probably the smartest thing I did all day, as it saved us a lot of time later. I worked out stuff with Cecily, and bitched about my teammate. He eventually arrived, we got our photo taken, and we head off to checkpoint four (I should explain now, that there are twelve checkpoints, 1-12, and all the teams have to go in order, but each is assigned a different start point. My team was lucky enough to draw one, so we started at one and ended at twelve. Points one and twelve were both near the starting point, so we were lucky).

Point four was an irish tavern in the Gaslamp Quarter. From there, we were heading to Hillcrest, and decided to use public transportation. We had a decent wait for the bus, which was a nice time to rest, and get some more checkpoint locations worked out. The bus took us very close to the next checkpoint, a vintage fashion store. The next clue indicated we were heading to Jimmy Carter's Cafe, which we passed on the way. But first, we found the skip chick (they dubbed her that in the pre-race festivities), so we no longer needed to sweat missing point one (though there was now no room for error).

After getting to Jimmy Carter's Cafe on 5th, we got our photo taken and planned our next move. We didn't have a transit schedule (I'd suggested to my partner he might want to research that for me, but apparently he was too busy training to do that), and were unsure how to get to Old Town from Hillcrest. We decided to take the same bus back to downtown and take the trolley to Old Town. A very helpful woman taking the bus concurred that this was our best bet, and reviewed some of the other checkpoints for us. We waited about twenty minutes, at least, with no bus in sight. We saw very few other contestants, which was odd. Finally, we saw one running by, who asked if we took our picture at Jimmy Carter's Cafe. We told her we did, when she delivered the news that it was the wrong location. The clue, which started "Sirva usted cerveza Billy?" or (I think) "Do you serve Billy Beer here," turns out to refer to a mexican restaurant with a similar name. Hence the Spanish, and the note that the checkpoint is North of Balboa Park (Jimmy Carter's Cafe is West). Had we caught our bus, we would have lost. The helpful competitors told us roughly where we were heading. Calling Cecily, she knew the place, and exactly where it was, and so we figured it out. But this added well over a mile to the course, which certainly didn't help my teammate (or myself). But we got the photo, and across the street was a bus stop where we would quickly catch a bus to Old Town.

Up to here, it was every team to themselves. I helped one team find the Concourse, and gave another a hint about the Flashback clue in Hillcrest (they didn't realize the common bond between Gordon, bulb, and cards was "flash"), but people seemed to be watching out for their competition. But getting on the bus (where the Jimmy Carter clue had hurt a lot of us), people were only concerned with finishing, and were helping each other. A team told us where the statue we couldn't find was, I offered some hints as to where I thought some of the other points were, and we basically had fun waiting to arrive in Old Town. Off the bus, we all ran together to find the next point (my teammate even kept up for awhile), and worked somewhat together from then on.

We got the two Old Town clues, and made it to the trolley right before it departed, where we saw many of the same teams we saw on the bus. We got off by the Star of India, and got our photo taken with the Chicken of the Sea propeller. We then ran (my partern, too, ran part way) to the Embarcadero, where the next checkpoint was the Homecoming Statue. Two checkpoints left. The last one was a sculpture behind the Convention Center. But before that, we had to find a black anchor. I knew there was one by the airport, but I noticed no other teams were heading in that direction. That also would involve backtracking; prior to that, we had done almost no backtracking (except to Jimmy Carter's Cafe, which turned out to be incorrect). And the clue said it was within a half-mile of Joe's Crab Shack, in the Embarcadero. So, after some debate, we decided to head toward the Convention Center. Once we were almost past Seaport Village, I was getting nervous. I was beginning to conclude we were wrong, and should head back to Harbor Drive, where I originally thought the anchor was. We could always take the trolley back if we didn't find the anchor there. Just as we turned back, we saw a team we'd seen previously, pass us in the opposite direction, so I chased after them to see where they were going. They told us the anchor was right by the sculpture at the Convention Center. And it was, very well-hidden. I took that team's photo at the last two checkpoints, and by then my teammate had made it, and the other team took our photos. About four-and-a-half hours had passed, so we had thirty minutes to make it to the Horton Sports Bar.

We had a long wait for a trolley, but we got on, got off at the train depot, and ran East to Horton Plaza. We finished in 4:48 and some change, less than 12 minutes before the cut-off. If we'd placed in the third wave in the trivia contest, we very well may have lost. We submitted our camera, it was reviewed, and we were declared winners and awarded a medal. It was a very proud moment for me, and for my partner. He gave it his very best, I realized, and especially after going through the second half of the race in a more laid-back, cooperative spirit, I was glad he was my teammate and very proud just to have finished. We got our goodie bag, ate in the mall, and left triumphant.

I later noticed one interesting thing about my medal. In February, I won a contest on the Urban Challenge web site. My e-mailed entry included a signature file with a Latin quote by Cicero. They asked me if I spoke Latin, and could translate a phrase for them. I said I had studied a little Latin, but could try to help. The phrase was, "I came, I saw, I thought," or something similar. My translation didn't sound good, but I suggested a more alliterative phrase, "Cogitavi Cursitavi Conquisivi," meaning "I thought, I ran, I conquored." I don't have the e-mail, so they may have checked with a real Latin expert and cleaned it up, but in any event, the finisher's medal now sports the phrase. So not only did I finish, but I leant a little something of my own for all the finishers to appreciate.

Driving home, I thought about this, and remembered why they asked me. My signature file quote was from Cicero, butchered to make it accessible to a beginning Latin student: "Virtutem enim ilius viri amavi, quae cum corpore non periit," or "Truly I loved the virtue of that man, which did not perish with his bones." I added that to my signature after encountering it in class, a few weeks after my father died. Thinking about that, I realized that I really would have enjoyed him cheering me on, and discussing the various checkpoint locations with him, and how much I missed him. And I felt the tears welling up, and was really surprised by how emotional I was getting. Especially the delayed reaction. Crossing a finish line is an emotional event; tears are par for course at a marathon. But it surprised me how I was touched thinking about this Latin phrase.

I am even closer now to running my first marathon. I had a feeling crossing the finish line will be an emotional experience; now I fear I'll just fall apart. But that's okay. And that's for another day. Today, I ran 9 miles, solved clues, navigated a city's flawed public transport, was almost screwed over by Jimmy Carter, and emerged victorious.