For me it was the first time I ever participated in part of a Marathon. Last year I ran the “Singelloop” (walk of the canals) in Leiden which is 6.6 Km (4.102 Miles). This year I decided to run the 10 Km (6.215 miles), part of the Leiden Marathon. My time was 1 hour, 12 minutes 40 seconds, which is 8.26 Km per hour (5.134 Miles/hour). Not too bad for someone with a weight of 106 Kg (234 pounds) and a height of 1.87 meters (6.14 feet). Fast calculators amongst you easily calculated a Body-Mass Index of about 30.
Here’s my track. Please note that the time and track on Sports-Tracker was a little longer as I started Sports Tracker on my Nokia N97 a little before the official start.
http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/rolloos/3htho4c4l2dca4mq
From the beginning I kept my own pace, which is something I would advise anyone participating, especially when you are not a very experienced runner like me. I tend to run to keep my physical condition up to date. I do that once or twice a week, but sometimes I skip a week or so. I run about 3 to 5 Km and I once ran 10 Km. But 10 km was hard and I needed to pause several times.
So this was an experiment for me. It worked out very well. There were some diffucult moments but people were cheering alongside the track. Also my wife and kids were cheering at the end and my kids, aged 5 and 7, ran with me the last 100 meters. 
Also, I ran at the pace of the threads of my Nokia N97, which I use for keeping track of my excercises (mostly running) and for listening to music while I run. Only at the end I wanted to listen to music because the threads of my earplug headphones gave me an excellent pace. Obviously, it was me who caused the pace in the first place, so it worked fine. At the end of the 10 Km I played “I gotta feeling” perfomed by the Black Eyed Peas. It reminds me of the Mini MBA at Nyenrode during the FD Career Challenge of which I was one of the 50 finalists. It was a great experience and the spirit helped me walk the last two Kms.
Also, I gave writing about this experience some thought. It motivated me as well. This doesn’t work for everyone, it depends on your inner motivators. Anyway, nowadays it’s very easy to reach out and tell the world whatever you have to say. Great news for everybody who’s not on the cover of NewsWeek or a starring guest in 60 minutes. Go out and do it!
