Contributed by Kathryn Dernham, reflecting on the Oakland Running Festival

I think there are a lot of ways to define marathon success.

This is my fourth marathon in 1 1/2 years and I was tired of hitting the wall at mile 18 and crossing the finish line feeling like I wanted to die. My goal for the training period and the race was to finish strong with, hopefully, a smile on my face. I decided to focus on fueling and pacing.

I took the advice of my friends Mary Beth and Jenny Kinder and ate my carbs before hand and was diligent about Gu, salt tabs and water during the race. I was watchful of my pace at the beginning, then eased up after those hills and I had an amazing time. I was happy as a clam at mile 19, thrilled to see Elaine (who was happy to see me dancing around), and thrilled to see Lulu at mile 20. It was hard, but I was able to steadily increase my pace, speeding up at mile 24 (really? me?) and it was amazing.

I had fun!! I crossed the finish line happy with negative splits. Following the race I was less sore than usual (I went home and walked the dog). My back was a little twingy because I was obsessively high fiving anyone I could.

Although I ran slightly faster at CIM, I consider this a more successful race. I am very grateful to the training program and to the advice from my friends. Marathons can be fun!!!