CBus

Trisha Dodd ran her first half marathon today & we surprised her by showing up to cheer.  The morning started REALLY early ~ left Madison just after 4 am ~ just before 6 we stopped for breakfast & I had to take a picture of the small McDonald's coffee.  It doesn't even fit in Mike's hand.  {When did the small shrink?}  We had great directions to follow the course from a master course follower ~ Jen Ayala has chased her husband around this course for years...and her expertise paid off for us.  We got to our spot just past mile 4 & found a giant and clean port-a-pot ~ which probably saved the day.  I watched the start from someone's live Facebook feed & could feel that energy.  I need to pause here, and reiterate my Columbus Half Marathon Recap ~ this race has the BEST start ever.  Thunderstruck, fireworks, Born to Run.  It's just a rush of adrenaline and energy.  Someday I will run this full.

We watched the first wheelchair racer and then (much later) the second & that was all of the wheelchair racers I saw.  Maybe they all took a short cut, because I have a hard time believing there were only 2.  The Dodd boys had signs

And so did I.  This sounds very braggy to say, but I'm pretty proud of my signs.  This was my first one, that I held at mile 4.  Dodd lent me his hat, so I had the sign and an outstretched ball cap.  And people smiled and laughed.  That was my goal.  I wanted to give people a reason to smile.  Sometimes, when your running, you just need a reason to chuckle.  I didn't, however, get any donations.  Not even a gu.  Cheep marathon runners!  :)

Mike held this sign. Which really makes him laugh...because it's funny.

I held this sign at mile 9 and there were many people who said, "Thank you, I needed that."  One lady held her fist to her heart and tapped it there for me.  I know that when you're at your lowest, you just need to know that it won't last...that you have what it takes deep inside to do this crazy thing.    So I think that my signs encouraged people today & that makes me feel like I was successful.

So, there we were, at mile 4.a little bit, waiting for Trisha, Leslie, and Pat. We saw the elite runners go by...blistering speeds...and then the people just behind them...working so very hard...{and I got a little scared.  These people were pushing and hurting at mile 4 ~ I don't want that to be me in 2 weeks ~ they still had a LOOOOONNNNGGG way to go}  We saw many NERC people and cheered for many many strangers.  Lots of sparkle skirts and tutu's out there as well as two dudes dressed in Spartan Costumes.  

We were race tracking Trisha, Leslie & Pat.  When they got to 4 we really started looking for them.  Then it said, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 & we got really nervous that we had missed them.  So we just started yelling, "Go Pat!"  "Go Leslie!"  "Go Trisha!"  Finally we spotted them.  I think Trisha was surprised and pleased to see us there ~ and I got to take their coats ~ which is a small repayment for all the times I've thrown articles of clothing at her during a race!

So off we went to mile 9, by the hospital and a water stop.  Crowded ~ but we found them again.  Then to the finish & as Jen said, it's hard to find a legal parking spot.  We parked in a gravel lot that had a closed sign...but there were about 40 other cars doing the same thing, so we figured they couldn't tow us all.  We were able to get to the finish and see them come through.  It was pretty awesome being the cheering crew for someone's first half.

at mile 9

waiting at the finish

all done

Then we went to meet Patrick and Maggie for lunch at Red Robin (YUM).  Very good to see them & hear how they are doing.  Jacob was home for fall break this weekend, too, so it was a great one.