No Chance to Win, No Way She Stops

The little voice in her head kept telling her to quit, but San Diego’s Mindy Ireland didn’t listen.

She probably should have, but she didn’t.

Ireland finished second Sunday behind Kathy Smith of Newport Beach in the women’s division of the San Diego Marathon. She crossed the finish line in such bad shape that she had to be carried to the drug-testing room by two big guys.

They also carried her back.

She was then propped up on the bumper of a car to wait for someone’s magic fingers to relieve her muscles. Soon, it was decided that it wasn’t fitting for the second-place finisher to balance on a bumper. So someone got her a chair.

Ireland’s problems began in the 10th mile with a twinge in her hamstring. By the 17th, she was really sore. She thought about dropping out but then decided she wanted to finish in front of her hometown fans.

She didn’t obey the little voice.

“You have to tell it to shut up,” she said.

And she covered all 26.2 miles. Barely.

“If I weren’t running in San Diego, I probably would have pulled out,” she said. “But this is my hometown. I probably won’t be running for a while because of that. . . . It’s just one of those races that you never want to have.”

It could have been such a great race. Through 10 miles, Ireland and Smith ran side by side, chatting. Yes . . . chatting.

“You’re competing with somebody,” Smith said. “You can still be friends with them.”

Ireland managed to hang with Smith until the pain in her leg got worse. But then by the 17th mile, she was unable to hold pace and Smith slipped ahead. By the time Ireland finished, Smith had a wreath placed atop her head, done a short television interview, cracked a bottle of mineral water and hiked down the steps on her way to the drug-testing building.

The announcement came. Ireland had finally finished. Smith couldn’t believe she was that far behind. When she heard, she turned to the marathon employee that was walking next to her and said: “She’s just coming in now? You’ve got to be kidding?”

Smith, 24, finished with a personal best time of 2:43.05. Ireland, 39, finished with a best-if-you-didn’t ask time of 2:52.12, which is quite respectable considering nobody else was able to pass her. Mexico’s Luisa Romero was third in 2:53.07.

Ireland’s condition was not unique. The finish line was chock full of people who looked to be reacquainting themselves with the fine art of walking. There should have been a “No vacancy” sign at the massage tables.

But apparently, the home stretch can make it all worthwhile.

“That last mile I saw the banner,” Ireland said. “I said: ‘OK, this is what we train for. Just do it.’ ”

Not everybody understands this feeling.

“Most of my friends think I’m insane,” Smith said.

And get this, Ireland is actually looking forward to turning 40. Why?

“Because I’ll be in the master’s circuit,” she said. “And I think I can do some damage.”

She thought about that one for a second and quickly added: “Not to myself, but to the master’s circuit.”

OK, but what about races such as this where every step down the final stretch is like night before taxes are due?

“The bad races, that’s the price you pay to have the good races,” Ireland said.

This was quite a price. Strained hamstring, aching muscles, sore knee . . .

And?

“And,” she said, “I drive a stick shift.”