In Our Shoes: Wade sheds tears of joy in strong marathon

It’s pretty hard to run fast and cry at the same time.

“But I’ve mastered it though, I think,” said 21-year-old student Wade Snowden.

The PNC Milwaukee Marathon was just a first marathon to Snowden in the beginning. A challenge. A goal. But then it became about so much more. It would be about time management with his studies – he would have three midterm exams at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee the week after the race.

It would be about priorities. He would pass on those late night parties.

It would be about self-care. A nursing student, who had lost 50 pounds in high school, this marathon would prove that he knows how to live his healthiest, best life.

Sometimes the tears came on his longest training runs.

And it was no different on a wind-whipped, typically cool fall Sunday in Milwaukee, as Snowden charged through the course, finishing in blazing speed, with a time of 3 hours and 29 minutes and 25 seconds.

“My goal was under 4 hours,” said Snowden. “I would have been happy with a 3:45. I just felt really good the whole time. I said, I can stay back and do the pace I trained for – or I could just go with what feels good.”

Snowden did admit this was a tough course.

“It was actually way harder than I thought it would be,” he said. “Mile 24 – that’s when I was like, crying. That’s when it finally felt like I’d been running for over three hours and don’t want to do this anymore and it’s been more hilly than I thought I would be.

“I said, just cry. Let it out. But keep going. Drink water.”

Snowden cruised through the first 10 miles.

“And then at Mile 21, someone said, oh the race has just begun,” said Snowden. “And I was like, ‘Oh (expletive). I guess it has. I really don’t want to think about that.’”

That’s because his longest training run was about 20 miles. The marathon is the longest distance he’s ever run.

On his approach to Mile 26, he encountered another runner on a bridge.

“And she was trying to pass me. And I said, no,” said Snowden, laughing. “This is not happening right now. And she was great – I congratulated her after. But I was like, you’re great, I’m great, but this is not happening right now.”

(Remember, Snowden usually likes to count how many runners he passes on his runs and he usually makes a game of it. But the marathon was too long for him to count them all.)

Snowden relied on Clif Bloks with caffeine to get him through the race and water after his apple with a bagel and peanut butter. He slept really well the night before, too.

"So far my biggest 'a-ha moment' has been: When you want to quit most in life is when you really need to keep going," said Snowden. "I thought about that at mile 21 to 26.2 when I saw people start walking or quitting, and when I started to really feel the pain of running for over three hours. So, the time in the race when I really wanted to quit was when it was most crucial to keep going to get my goal time and finish.

"That is my transformation picture I posted on my Instagram. On the left is how the Old Wade looked May 2012, and the right is after finishing the marathon." 

Now let’s talk about the fact that the marathon race organizers actually set up the course too short, and that runners came in at 25.4 miles, a full 0.8 short of a 26.2 marathon.

Runners have to resolve that in their heart their own way. Here’s what Snowden said:

“I ran a marathon. Period. End of sentence. 

“I know I still would have crushed it, ran the whole thing, and been immensely proud of myself had it been 0.8 miles longer. 

“My watch had been at least 0.6 ahead the whole time and then around 22 or 23 (it all kind of blends together at some point) it was no longer ahead. 

“I just hope none of the runners take this out too harshly on the people in charge of the race. No one would ever intentionally want this to happen. It is sad that it happened, but I can't think of someone who has not ever made a mistake. Sure, this one affected a lot of people, but there are much bigger things going on that I worry about than 0.8 of a mile. 

“Right now I just hope I did good on the three midterms I had this week.

“I am still on an amazing high, and this does not bring me down at all. If anything it will encourage me even more to run a marathon again next fall! 

“I did the PNC Half Marathon a year ago and now have done the full. The course is amazing. I love Milwaukee, and this race truly highlights the beauty of our city. I hope this race also shines a light on the beauty of people forgiving this mistake. I think it would be a shame to lose such an amazing race because of this mistake - even if it has happened twice. 

“I can't imagine all that goes into preparing for such a huge event like this. So, yes I wish it was 0.8 miles longer, but it will not keep me up at night and it will not stop me from saying, "I ran a marathon" with immense pride and determination that you can truly do anything if you train hard enough.”