Marathon Weekend

What a great, inspiring, and beautiful weekend. We started it off with a visit to Shark and Jane's on Friday night along with our friends Dean and Beth. Hanging out in Shark and Jane's kitchen, eating pizza and catching up was so relaxing and comfortable. We were also able to catch up a little more on Saturday morning before we headed into the city.

After dropping Dean and Beth at their hotel, we went up to Chris' place where we got to catch up with her too. She was taking it easy since the marathon was the next day. We went out to dinner and ate outside with Chris and my brother Rick that night. All weekend the weather was gorgeous (not so gorgeous for the runners on Sunday) so we tried to be outside most of the day.

Sunday morning Stein drove Chris down to the race and I slept in a little. We met Shark for breakfast at one of his favorite places, S&G, before starting our day of spectating at the marathon.

Our first stop after breakfast was our friend Ellen's house in Old Town. She lives on the street that was right after mile 10, so it was a great place to see some of the race. We missed seeing Dean, but saw Chris when she stopped by. Her brother Mike was jumping in with her at this point, and he ran with her the rest of the way. Here they are before starting on their way:
I especially love this picture because of the kids sitting on the wall in the background. They all had matching shirts on that were made for their friend or relative in the race. That's what I love about watching marathons. Everyone is so gung-ho about rooting for their friends or relatives. As it should be.

I got to see Chris two more times after mile 10, at mile 16 and then 20. Stein and Shark went ahead to try to catch Dean but they only saw him once. I traveled by el to different parts of the city to see Chris. Each time I would see the same people who were running just ahead of her and know that she would be by soon. For the five seconds that she ran by me, I would jump up and down and yell, "Go Chris! Alright Chris!" That's about all I could fit in in those 5 seconds.

At the end of the race, we were able to see Dean (I still need to get pictures from him) and congratulate him. This was his first marathon and he did really well, despite the heat. The day was extremely hot, in fact they were one "warning" away from cancelling the race. (Last year's marathon was on an even hotter day with terrible consequences, so they weren't taking any chances.)

Chris finished a little while later. She finished. I was so proud of her. I was lucky to also see her run the marathons in Dublin and New York, and each time I felt the same way. So proud. So impressed. So glad to see her accomplish another great feat. She felt good, a little sore, but okay. She fared much better than a lot of people who suffered from dehydration and overheating. Our friend Sarah's sisters ended up in the hospital that night. Luckily, they're fine now.

Stein and I stuck around to see Chris and her parents, and then we all took the el back north. We said our goodbyes and Stein and I were off to endure a marathon of our own: construction traffic on the way home.

So here's to you, Chris and Dean. You did it. 26.2 miles. We're all impressed and so, so proud.