LAKEPORT — Julie Kelley completed her fifth Boston Marathon amid sweltering conditions on April 16.
Temperatures reached into 80s during the race, and the 45-year-old Lakeport resident found herself running during the heat of the day.
“The heat was horrible,” Kelley said. “Everything was hot. The water was hot. The air was hot. Your body was hot.”
Organizers of the 116th Boston Marathon were prepared and emailed weather updates to the participants before the event.
Kelley said one message, sent on the eve of the race warning of forecasted high heat and urging novice runners to defer their entry until 2013, gave her some pause.
“I kind of glanced at some of the words and I was like, oh, ”stroke, dehydrate.” Just everything in there,” she remembered.
Still, the advisories acted as a sort of motivation for Kelley.
“When they said only the elite athletes should run, I thought this is so cool because this is what I do and this is what I love,” Kelley said.
She participated in the 5-kilometer run on April 15 to prepare for hot conditions during the next day”s 26.2-mile race; a decision she said really helped.
Heat impacted everybody on marathon day, as the media images of exhausted participants continuously showed.
“That was a heartache to see that happening around you,” Kelley said, pointing to newspaper photographs of runners struggling during the race.
Kelley indicated that slowing her pace and drinking more water — “running smart,” as she put it — also aided her during the marathon.
Approaching the final stretch, with daughter Rachel waiting at the line, Kelley said she gained strength from knowing she was close to completing her goal.
“When I started hitting that part, I was like, ”I did it.” And then no pain afterward, which was incredible. No aching, no fatigue, no sore muscles. It was wonderful,” she said.
At the end of the run, she also remembered hearing the same Doobie Brothers song that started her marathon playlist: “China Grove.”
“I was like, OK, this is good,” she said about listening to the familiar tune.
The band”s former drummer, Michael Hossack, died earlier this year. He was Kelley”s family friend and his death helped inspire her to run in this year”s Boston Marathon.
Kelley crossed the finish line after 4 hours, 39 minutes and 48 seconds — almost an hour longer than her previous Boston runs.
She said in years past she competed to run as well and as quickly as she could, but “this time, it was about finishing.”
Kelley, known for running to sponsor survivorship during marathons, ran for herself in Massachusetts this year.
After completing the 2011 Boston Marathon, Kelley found herself reflecting on what role running should play in her life.
She said she soon realized that running is “something that is me, which gives me life.”
The introspection continued during the lead-up to this year”s Boston Marathon. In fact, she didn”t inform most people she was going to participate until just before she left.
“It wasn”t about people knowing what I was doing. It wasn”t about ”Julie is running again,”” Kelley said. “Running is what gives me that positive energy that I have and I thought, well, I”m just not going to tell anybody. I”m just going to do it on my own.”
She said she was able to train less and leave time for other life priorities, with family at the top of the list.
Kelley called the April 16 marathon “probably the hardest run ever, but it was the most gratifying in my heart and my spirit.”
She plans to continue running marathons but wants to focus on local ones, such as those in Redding and Sacramento.
And as for Boston in 2013, Kelley said, “I have to qualify if I want to go back. I”ll never say never.”
