Being pretty occupied with running, he was unable to take his own pictures of the TC marathon on Sunday, so I, his soon-to-be-wife, have gladly stepped in for a little blog take-over. I'm also the resident marathon expert in our home, even though I've never ran more than 16 miles without crying. I come from a family full of marathoners, and can't even count how many I've cheered at. Some of my most vivid childhood memories are of running events, or of riding my bike alongside my dad when he went on his weekend training runs. I love the marathon more than any spectator should. This year was the first in a long time that a bunch of my relatives decided to run. Originally, I was going to join them (and Zach was roped in), but I had to bail out on training so he had to go it alone with all his new in-laws. Altogether, it was Zach, my dad, five of my uncles, one cousin, my parent's neighbor and two of my friends! Quite the crew to cheer for, but I was up for the task.
My non-running relatives and I staked out a spot near the bunny on Minnehaha, just past the mile 10 marker. We practiced our high fives on one of my uncles.
Here's a shot of Zach (red shorts), coming along looking fresh & chipper - a sharp contrast to his haggard self at the finish line.
In the past, we'd bop around to four different points on the course to watch everybody, but with so many people running different paces, we opted to go straight for the finish line after the last of the crew (Zach!) went by. The end of the course comes up Summit and goes by the Cathedral with a nice long slope down towards the finish at the Capitol building.
My dad ran this year, the 20th anniversary of the first time he ran the TC AND for his 50th birthday. He did a fantastic job for someone who hadn't ran a marathon in 15 years - he finished first out of our whole crew and all his younger brothers, coming in just under 4 hours! He looked pretty chipper while closing in on a great finish time (blue jersey).
Everybody looked great finishing out the race. I love the finish line - it's amazing to see people's faces when they come towards the Capitol and realize not only are they done running 26.2 miles, but they've accomplished a pretty incredible physical and mental feat!
At the end, we had to get a picture of the finishers (minus my gal pals, who I couldn't find). I've spared Zach the humiliation of posting one where everybody is standing. Aside from my dad's neighbor Tracy, he's the shortest in the photo, despite being 6'2''. I come from a family of beanpoles.
If you've never gone out to watch the TC marathon, you better put October 3rd, 2010 on your calendar! I don't know if Zach will tackle it again, but it's worth going anyway.
