As the sun and temperatures began to rise just before the start, I drank as much as I could hold, doused myself with water, and hoped for the best. The Europeans and Canadians continued to grouse, right up until the start. We assumed the African and Eastern European runners were equally discontent, but they seemed to be keeping it to themselves.

A police whistle set us on our way. The first 10 miles were predictable for a professional racing experience. Fast pace, smooth running, and the leaders checking each other out. The pace was quite fast (around 5:08 mile pace). By the halfway point, I had a 30-second lead after Miles 15 to 20, I moved away from the second place runner. There was no competitor between second and third place, so I was too far back in my own race. But that was not my concern. I was running well and on pace for somewhere around a 2:25 or 2:26 time if I could hold my pace.

By mile 18, the African runner in third place surged and caught the second place man. The three of us were running together, separated by a few meters. Now I felt the pressure. This was not an imagined contest, but a real struggle between three able distance runners, all of whom could break 2:20 the next time out.

By 20 miles, I had moved to second place, though my legs were beginning to fail me in earnest. I went from second place down to third place by mile 21, an d the pressure became intense. At 22 miles, my pace was down to about a 5:28 per mile pace; still fast but nothing like the beginning. At 23 miles, I was having stomach problems. I became nauseous (which happened to thousands of runners that hot day), and finally I was sick. This left me somewhat helpless.

At mile 24, I managed to pass the runner who had been in the lead, and from mile 24 until the finish, we traded places twice. This was the last real personal record in that my body was performing at its limit, and my mental and physical strengths were there in concert. The struggle was real—not imagined.

This is my last PR in a personal record in a city that provides that hard-won achievement.

Jeff Hagen is a competitive distance runner who at the age of 34 continues to push himself at the marathon distance, where he has posted nine personal best marks in the past five years. Most recently he competed in the 1996 Olympic Trials Marathon and finished in the top 20. He is the director of Run America, a national running tour company in Seattle, Washington.