2023 Seattle Marathon, my first DNF

I felt completely at ease as I lined up at 5th and Harrison to start the 2023 Seattle Marathon: my only expectation was to have a good time.

Two weeks prior I had strained my right calf while hustling down a steep section of Discovery Park’s loop trail; I blame it on the two would-be Arizona Iron wo/man at my heels.

I hadn’t run in two weeks and had no idea what my calf would do; I had not “tested it” (although I lightly jogged from the car to the Westin to pickup my packet, and felt great.)

I kept things in low-to-medium gear, which is a struggle for me when I’m feeling great and have no one to chat with, but I was proud of my pace… then we started to hit a few downhills and my right knee started to remind me that I hadn’t really solved the downhill/endurance problem I experienced the last time I ran this far …

I was cruising until about mile 17; we had just finished running on highway 99 from Fremont to Green Lake. The downhill on the pavement didn’t do me any favors and as we turned onto the path I slowed to a walk. I ran/walked for a mile or so, then walked another mile before realizing that I wouldn’t want a trophy this way - and continuing to walk certainly wasn’t doing my knee any benefit.

I had passed a medical tent on the first loop of the lake, and arriving upon it again I knew they would either have a miracle fix or I would be done at roughly 20 miles. I called the Uber five minutes later, and I was in the hot tub 30 minutes after that.

I called up my physical therapist… time to get to work!