We are the battling bastards of Bataan;
No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam;
No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces;
No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces.
And nobody gives a damn.
And nobody gives a damn.
-Frank Hewlett, 1942
Well I did it. My first Marathon. It was a pretty moving weekend for me as my Great Uncle suffered the Bataan Death March and ultimately died in a Japanese POW camp and is interred in the Philippines.
This isn’t your typical road marathon as it has some pretty brutal elevation change, wind, temperatures and sand. The first eight miles were pretty easy, but then we encountered roughly 1,200 feet of elevation change over the next six to seven miles. Followed by another six to seven miles of brutal decent. After solving those two problems the 6” deep sand kicks in and lasts for about 1.5 miles uphill again. The final five miles we suffered a 15 mph headwind in past years it has been as high as 40 mph so we were pretty lucky.
In the end I was able to shake the hands of 11 Bataan survivors at the finish line which really gave me perspective, no matter how bad I felt, thinking of those that lived it made me man up and quit my whining.
Attached are some pictures I hope you find interesting. I finished in 4:46:36 and placed 130th/1858 in the civilian light category and 35th/325 in my age group.
Next years race is 17 March and I'll be back and better prepared for sure!
No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam;
No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces;
No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces.
And nobody gives a damn.
And nobody gives a damn.
-Frank Hewlett, 1942
Well I did it. My first Marathon. It was a pretty moving weekend for me as my Great Uncle suffered the Bataan Death March and ultimately died in a Japanese POW camp and is interred in the Philippines.
This isn’t your typical road marathon as it has some pretty brutal elevation change, wind, temperatures and sand. The first eight miles were pretty easy, but then we encountered roughly 1,200 feet of elevation change over the next six to seven miles. Followed by another six to seven miles of brutal decent. After solving those two problems the 6” deep sand kicks in and lasts for about 1.5 miles uphill again. The final five miles we suffered a 15 mph headwind in past years it has been as high as 40 mph so we were pretty lucky.
In the end I was able to shake the hands of 11 Bataan survivors at the finish line which really gave me perspective, no matter how bad I felt, thinking of those that lived it made me man up and quit my whining.
Attached are some pictures I hope you find interesting. I finished in 4:46:36 and placed 130th/1858 in the civilian light category and 35th/325 in my age group.
Next years race is 17 March and I'll be back and better prepared for sure!
