I couldn’t believe I was actually doing it. I was doing a marathon—again. I was surprised because I had done two marathons years ago—one when I was 40 and one when I was 45. My husband, Ed, had run 5 marathons including New York City. I swore I would never do another one as I felt it was just too damaging to my old body. And here I was at 57—12 years later. What was I thinking?
Ed, has a friend named, Larry, who has been talking about doing a marathon since he started running about 2 years ago. Larry has never been athletic and doesn’t exactly have a runner’s body. Larry had been doing 5 and 6-mile runs consistently but that was the extent of it. Ed consented to take Larry on and train him to run the 26.2 miles in December. I was just along for the ride. I was skeptical when I met Larry on our first White Rock Lake Loop in mid-summer. The Loop is 9.3 miles or 15k and Larry struggled with the distance. Once he started walking, he had a hard time starting back up again. The trick was to get Larry to run further before he walked.
As the weeks ticked by, Larry’s will power kicked into high gear. We walked less and ran more. We ran races—Larry’s first ever was the 5k Elvis Run. We ran the 20k Tour de Fleur, Half Marathon, 25k Waterworks and 30k Big D. The weeks we didn’t do races, we ran the 9.3 Loop or the 10.5 Northwest Highway Loop. I had never run the 25k or 30k. In fact, after my marathon 12 years ago, I had never run more than the 13.1 half marathon distance. But I felt like Larry needed the company, the companionship and the cheerleader. Ed is stronger and faster than Larry and me, so, when we were being timed, he didn’t run with us. I felt like Larry needed someone rooting for him, someone helping him push himself.
The 30k or 18.6 mile distance was a real challenge. Larry and I ended up talking and walking for so long that it was difficult for me to finish. At that point, I decided I would run the Half Marathon as usual and then drive out to the course, find Larry, and run in with him. I knew he would need the help most at the end. But my friend Janice explained that logistically that would be very difficult. With little parking close to the route, how would I be able to park and find Larry? I decided to try to do the 21 mile run that Ed and Larry were doing 2 weeks before the Marathon. That was to be their longest training run. I would make my decision after that.
The morning after Thanksgiving, the weather was merciless. It was raining pretty steadily with the temperature hovering around 40. It was to be a real test. The camaraderie of our little group definitely helped. I realized that Larry and I had become good friends. Larry’s sunny disposition, despite dire circumstances, buoyed my spirits. “What a wonderful day” was Larry’s remark rain or shine. It was refreshing and it kept me going. Of course, it was always comforting to have Ed by my side. We began our run at 8:00 a.m. and didn’t finish until after 1:00 p.m. Nonetheless it was a successful run. We had made the distance. We had a congratulatory breakfast and talked marathon strategies. I had made my decision. I was going to attempt another marathon.
Larry and Ed came down to pick me up from work on Friday night so we could go to the Marathon Expo and pick up our chips and packets. Ed and I usually go to the Expo on Saturday afternoon but Friday night was definitely a better time to go. It wasn’t crowded at all. We even got a free $25 shirt that said “Training for White Rock Marathon 2007” on the back. I guess no one would be buying those anymore. There was a stack of about 100 of them and I imagine, when they were gone, they were gone. We had gotten free socks in the past but nothing as nice as this. We felt very lucky to get the shirts as it helped defray the $95 each it cost to enter the Marathon. Our official Dallas White Rock Marathon long-sleeve T-shirt was in the packet that we picked up, but it wasn’t made out of the special wicking material the free shirt was.
Aside from the shirt, the Expo was a little lame this year. There was hardly any free food and no free drinks except little samples of fruit drinks that were supposed to make you feel energetic. We bought lots of Gu—which would end up being our breakfast and lunch on the day of the Marathon. They also had something new this year that Larry and I especially liked—jelly beans. They came in 3 flavors and were made out of the same energy-inducing mixture that’s in Gu. I bought a fanny pack to hold all the Gu and Larry and Ed bought matching running shorts—only because they were the cheapest ones they could find. I saw a girl from “Run On” who was featured in an article in the Dallas Morning News a few days before. She’s my age and only started running again in January after years of inactivity. She used to be an elite runner when she was in her early 20’s before she got married and had kids. Since January, she lost over 100 pounds just by getting back into running.
Saturday we didn’t do much at all. We tried to conserve our energy. Our office party was at 6:00 p.m. at Berry and Jeanne’s. When we got there, I slugged down a few glasses of $56/bottle Chardonnay. I know it cost that much because I ordered it. I knew it was going to be hard to be good but I had to. I didn’t want to be dehydrated and hung over on Sunday morning. After everyone arrived, we piled out of the house and into a horse-drawn carriage to view the lights of Highland Park. This is the part of Dallas where the super rich live and their money was on display. People come from all over every year just to see the lights and decorations. There were cars lined up and down the street because people had gotten out of their cars with their kids to get a closer look. As we rode along, Berry pointed out which house belonged to whom. We went by Jerry Jones’ house (the owner of the Cowboys’), Troy Aikman’s (former Cowboy quarterback), Bunker Hunt’s (of the Hunt Brothers) ARod’s (a famous bseball player) and many others’ who I recognized but don’t remember. The weather couldn’t have been better. It was a warm 65-70 degree night.
After we got back to Berry’s about an hour later, we all trooped upstairs to see the game room turned media room. Now that the kids are grown and have moved out, the pool table, dart board, etc. are gone and a luxurious 3-sided couch is in its place. The high-def TV on the wall resembles a movie screen. Jeanne told us that they don’t even want to go to the movies anymore because the quality of films pales in comparison to high-def. I guess once you get used to it, it’s hard to settle for anything less. I guess I better not get used to it. They also put in a small wine cellar that’s behind glass doors and contains many cases of fine wine—most of which I’ve ordered for them. Dinner was unbelievable. Berry’s new chef fixed everything. He made medallions of pork, potato burritos, broccoli pie, carrots, salad and rolls. For dessert we had warm apple turnovers with vanilla bean ice cream. That’s livin’!! The best part about it was I could eat to my heart’s content. After all, I was running 26 miles the next day.
The weather turned sharply during the night. By morning it was in the low 40’s and raining. That would definitely mean fewer spectators, but aside from that, it was a welcome relief. The race directors were worried about a repeat of the Chicago Marathon which was called off half way through because of so many heatstroke casualties. We got up at 5:45 and prepared to leave by 6:30 when Larry would arrive. I wore my A&M long-sleeved T-shirt—even though it was cotton and I had many breathable ones. I figured I would get a lot of support from Aggie alums and I did. I also wore my Lady Foot Locker running jacket to keep from getting soaked. Larry was right on time so we left with Katie for the 20 minute drive downtown to the American Airlines Arena where the race started. Katie had volunteered to work the finish line for Friday’s Restaurant, one of the race sponsors. She would get Community service hours that she can list on her college application.
The White Rock Marathon has really grown in recent years. Back in 1990, when I first ran it, the marathon was all there was. There was no Half Marathon and no relays. Now they cap the field at 5,000 marathoners, 6,000 half marathoners and 3,000 relay race runners. Perhaps that’s why the traffic was so horrendous getting into the arena. The cushion of time we thought we had quickly dwindled. We inched forward for a good 45 minutes before we finally landed in our parking spot. At that point we were 25 minutes to zero hour. We bolted for the arena and the inside bathrooms before realizing there was a line a mile long. Everyone had to go through a metal detector to get into the building and it was slowing things down considerably. Once inside, there was another line at the ladies’ room. Believe it or not we finished, ran out to the start and found our pace balloons, just as the gun went off.
Let me explain about pace groups. When I ran my first marathon, there was no such thing. Now, it’s big business. There are pacers that live all over the country. They work (if you can call it that) for Clif Bar who doesn’t pay them but who pays all their expenses to run marathons. My pacer, Sharon, had run 63 marathons. Ed signed up for the 5 hour pace group and Larry and I for the 5 ½ hour group. Technically, you don’t need to sign up and you can drop out of or join a pace group at any time. The pacer will keep his/her group on pace to finish the marathon in the time indicated. Our leader looked at her watch constantly. We ran for 5 minutes and walked 1 minute continuously. If we ran too fast, we walked more to stay on our 12:37/mile pace. We did that for the entire 26 miles and it made my marathon easy and fun. My friend, Janice, has run with pace groups for years. She is 61 years old and does the White Rock Marathon every year. I never understood before I tried it why it made such a difference.
Basically the race started downtown. We ran through the West End, past the YMCA and up Olive to McKinney. We passed by the building where I work, passed restaurants where we eat on Fridays, and areas that we visit on our daily lunch runs. We ran through Turtle Creek and then up into Highland Park—the area we had ridden through the night before. I stopped to use the restroom at one of the water stations. That’s tricky because the group won’t stop for anyone. You run ahead as much as you can and then catch up afterward. That was my one-and-only bathroom stop and I’m glad I didn’t have to do that again. The spectators were few and far between downtown but picked up quite a bit through this area. People came out of their houses and waved and shouted. Some people had their kids lined up on the curb—all bundled up—shouting words of encouragement. This was one of the best parts of the Marathon. We still felt fresh.
We got to know some of the people in our pace group. Janice ran with us as did J.B. who I’ve run with for years. I often ran the first part of the Half Marathon with J.B. when he was running the full Marathon. He used to be pretty fast but now he has arthritis in his knees and he had trouble keeping up. Of course, Larry was always at my side. Larry is a real card but super, super nice. He talks to anyone and everyone and he’s always upbeat. We talked with two girls from Idaho. Their husbands were on bikes and kept stopping to take pictures of them. One of the girls was named DeAnn. She said people used to call her Dean in grade school so she made the A capital and it stopped. There were quite a few older people in our group—one lady who was running her first marathon at age 60. The pace group leader kept us going. She sang a bunch of songs that I think she made up. They were like army songs where the leader says one thing and everybody repeats it. Ed said his pace leader didn’t sing at all.
After going through Highland Park, we made our way to Central Expressway and passed by the building where every Monday night we have our Families Anonymous meeting. After that it was up to the Granada Theatre on Greenville and through more neighborhoods that were less affluent. By mile 9 we were very close to White Rock Lake and by mile 10 we were there. White Rock is where 80% of the people running the Marathon train. We were on very familiar ground. We passed the paddle boats, the construction, the trees that always smell of bird droppings and down under the bridge where we had stopped so Larry could have a wardrobe adjustment during our 21 mile training run. Then it was up to Northwest Highway and back down toward the Lake and the 13.1 halfway point.
Psychologically I always feel better after the halfway point of any race or training run. I started to perk up. I started to feel like I really could finish. I started to enjoy the feel of my feet hitting the pavement and the scenery at the Lake. I noticed it felt like it was getting colder. I put my jacket back on—hiding my A&M T-shirt. We kept on plugging—past the yacht clubs, the Bath House and Winfrey Point where many of our previous races had started and finished. We turned up Garland Road, past the spillway and then made the turn that leads to the dreaded Dolly Partons.
You can probably guess what the Dolly Parton hills are—and they’re not fun, especially at mile 20. The beer is always right before you go into the first hill. It’s tradition. I downed a small tumbler full and toasted my old runnin’ buddy, Greggy, like I told him I would. The guys with the fake boobs were in their usual spot passing out water. Our pace leader kept us going and, miraculously, the hills weren’t that difficult. There were a few more uphill grades but the spectators kept reminding us that the next 5 miles of Swiss Avenue were all downhill. Besides we were back in the neighborhoods and the well-wishers were plentiful.
We kept on truckin’ and kept singing with Sharon. We were ticking off the miles. We came to the beloved Snickers bar water stop. By that time, I was sick to death of Gu and oranges and wanted something more substantial. Snickers bars cut into bite-sized pieces did the trick. We could see downtown Dallas getting closer and closer. We brought more people into our little group but also many dropped out. Some of our original group, like DeAnn, ran ahead. We noticed that we hadn’t seen J.B. for some time. I think he dropped out before we left the Lake. Some people were joining us, happy to have found someone to lead them to the finish line.
Finally we entered downtown. We only had about 2 miles to go. We ran past many familiar sites—Old City Park, Chase Tower where I used to work, the Art Museum and the YMCA. We were horses smelling the barn. At one point I looked up and was surprised and happy to see Ed. He was walking with a guy he introduced to me as Manny. Ed’s hip was bothering him so he had dropped back from his pace group at the Lake. Manny had picked him up and became his cheerleader, urging him to keep going despite the pain.
Ed, Larry and I were zeroing in on the finish line. People lined the road on both sides. Larry’s wife, Dorothy, was standing under a tree, waving and shouting. Larry’s two kids ran out onto the road, running alongside him, urging him to run faster. Ed, Larry and I ran side-by-side. When we got to the finish line, we crossed under it, all grins, holding hands with arms raised. Flash bulbs erupted, saving the moment for posterity. We had done it!!
Katie was there to meet us at the finish. She was all smiles although numb, after 6 hours of being out in the cold and nearly freezing rain. When you’re running, your body generates heat. Not so when you’re sitting on the cold concrete, clipping chips off runners’ shoes. We were wrapped in a thermal sheet by a kindly volunteer and given a Finisher’s Cap by another. Ed, Larry and I went to get our picture taken, weary but smiling.
By the time we got there, the after-race party was nearly over. Most of the food was gone and so was the beer. We did manage to get a little pasta salad but we were cold and still very hungry. Starbucks sounded just right so, after hobbling around to find Katie, we headed there. The white chocolate mocha and egg-salad sandwich really hit the spot. We sat and basked in our glory.
Ed, has a friend named, Larry, who has been talking about doing a marathon since he started running about 2 years ago. Larry has never been athletic and doesn’t exactly have a runner’s body. Larry had been doing 5 and 6-mile runs consistently but that was the extent of it. Ed consented to take Larry on and train him to run the 26.2 miles in December. I was just along for the ride. I was skeptical when I met Larry on our first White Rock Lake Loop in mid-summer. The Loop is 9.3 miles or 15k and Larry struggled with the distance. Once he started walking, he had a hard time starting back up again. The trick was to get Larry to run further before he walked.
As the weeks ticked by, Larry’s will power kicked into high gear. We walked less and ran more. We ran races—Larry’s first ever was the 5k Elvis Run. We ran the 20k Tour de Fleur, Half Marathon, 25k Waterworks and 30k Big D. The weeks we didn’t do races, we ran the 9.3 Loop or the 10.5 Northwest Highway Loop. I had never run the 25k or 30k. In fact, after my marathon 12 years ago, I had never run more than the 13.1 half marathon distance. But I felt like Larry needed the company, the companionship and the cheerleader. Ed is stronger and faster than Larry and me, so, when we were being timed, he didn’t run with us. I felt like Larry needed someone rooting for him, someone helping him push himself.
The 30k or 18.6 mile distance was a real challenge. Larry and I ended up talking and walking for so long that it was difficult for me to finish. At that point, I decided I would run the Half Marathon as usual and then drive out to the course, find Larry, and run in with him. I knew he would need the help most at the end. But my friend Janice explained that logistically that would be very difficult. With little parking close to the route, how would I be able to park and find Larry? I decided to try to do the 21 mile run that Ed and Larry were doing 2 weeks before the Marathon. That was to be their longest training run. I would make my decision after that.
The morning after Thanksgiving, the weather was merciless. It was raining pretty steadily with the temperature hovering around 40. It was to be a real test. The camaraderie of our little group definitely helped. I realized that Larry and I had become good friends. Larry’s sunny disposition, despite dire circumstances, buoyed my spirits. “What a wonderful day” was Larry’s remark rain or shine. It was refreshing and it kept me going. Of course, it was always comforting to have Ed by my side. We began our run at 8:00 a.m. and didn’t finish until after 1:00 p.m. Nonetheless it was a successful run. We had made the distance. We had a congratulatory breakfast and talked marathon strategies. I had made my decision. I was going to attempt another marathon.
Larry and Ed came down to pick me up from work on Friday night so we could go to the Marathon Expo and pick up our chips and packets. Ed and I usually go to the Expo on Saturday afternoon but Friday night was definitely a better time to go. It wasn’t crowded at all. We even got a free $25 shirt that said “Training for White Rock Marathon 2007” on the back. I guess no one would be buying those anymore. There was a stack of about 100 of them and I imagine, when they were gone, they were gone. We had gotten free socks in the past but nothing as nice as this. We felt very lucky to get the shirts as it helped defray the $95 each it cost to enter the Marathon. Our official Dallas White Rock Marathon long-sleeve T-shirt was in the packet that we picked up, but it wasn’t made out of the special wicking material the free shirt was.
Aside from the shirt, the Expo was a little lame this year. There was hardly any free food and no free drinks except little samples of fruit drinks that were supposed to make you feel energetic. We bought lots of Gu—which would end up being our breakfast and lunch on the day of the Marathon. They also had something new this year that Larry and I especially liked—jelly beans. They came in 3 flavors and were made out of the same energy-inducing mixture that’s in Gu. I bought a fanny pack to hold all the Gu and Larry and Ed bought matching running shorts—only because they were the cheapest ones they could find. I saw a girl from “Run On” who was featured in an article in the Dallas Morning News a few days before. She’s my age and only started running again in January after years of inactivity. She used to be an elite runner when she was in her early 20’s before she got married and had kids. Since January, she lost over 100 pounds just by getting back into running.
Saturday we didn’t do much at all. We tried to conserve our energy. Our office party was at 6:00 p.m. at Berry and Jeanne’s. When we got there, I slugged down a few glasses of $56/bottle Chardonnay. I know it cost that much because I ordered it. I knew it was going to be hard to be good but I had to. I didn’t want to be dehydrated and hung over on Sunday morning. After everyone arrived, we piled out of the house and into a horse-drawn carriage to view the lights of Highland Park. This is the part of Dallas where the super rich live and their money was on display. People come from all over every year just to see the lights and decorations. There were cars lined up and down the street because people had gotten out of their cars with their kids to get a closer look. As we rode along, Berry pointed out which house belonged to whom. We went by Jerry Jones’ house (the owner of the Cowboys’), Troy Aikman’s (former Cowboy quarterback), Bunker Hunt’s (of the Hunt Brothers) ARod’s (a famous bseball player) and many others’ who I recognized but don’t remember. The weather couldn’t have been better. It was a warm 65-70 degree night.
After we got back to Berry’s about an hour later, we all trooped upstairs to see the game room turned media room. Now that the kids are grown and have moved out, the pool table, dart board, etc. are gone and a luxurious 3-sided couch is in its place. The high-def TV on the wall resembles a movie screen. Jeanne told us that they don’t even want to go to the movies anymore because the quality of films pales in comparison to high-def. I guess once you get used to it, it’s hard to settle for anything less. I guess I better not get used to it. They also put in a small wine cellar that’s behind glass doors and contains many cases of fine wine—most of which I’ve ordered for them. Dinner was unbelievable. Berry’s new chef fixed everything. He made medallions of pork, potato burritos, broccoli pie, carrots, salad and rolls. For dessert we had warm apple turnovers with vanilla bean ice cream. That’s livin’!! The best part about it was I could eat to my heart’s content. After all, I was running 26 miles the next day.
The weather turned sharply during the night. By morning it was in the low 40’s and raining. That would definitely mean fewer spectators, but aside from that, it was a welcome relief. The race directors were worried about a repeat of the Chicago Marathon which was called off half way through because of so many heatstroke casualties. We got up at 5:45 and prepared to leave by 6:30 when Larry would arrive. I wore my A&M long-sleeved T-shirt—even though it was cotton and I had many breathable ones. I figured I would get a lot of support from Aggie alums and I did. I also wore my Lady Foot Locker running jacket to keep from getting soaked. Larry was right on time so we left with Katie for the 20 minute drive downtown to the American Airlines Arena where the race started. Katie had volunteered to work the finish line for Friday’s Restaurant, one of the race sponsors. She would get Community service hours that she can list on her college application.
The White Rock Marathon has really grown in recent years. Back in 1990, when I first ran it, the marathon was all there was. There was no Half Marathon and no relays. Now they cap the field at 5,000 marathoners, 6,000 half marathoners and 3,000 relay race runners. Perhaps that’s why the traffic was so horrendous getting into the arena. The cushion of time we thought we had quickly dwindled. We inched forward for a good 45 minutes before we finally landed in our parking spot. At that point we were 25 minutes to zero hour. We bolted for the arena and the inside bathrooms before realizing there was a line a mile long. Everyone had to go through a metal detector to get into the building and it was slowing things down considerably. Once inside, there was another line at the ladies’ room. Believe it or not we finished, ran out to the start and found our pace balloons, just as the gun went off.
Let me explain about pace groups. When I ran my first marathon, there was no such thing. Now, it’s big business. There are pacers that live all over the country. They work (if you can call it that) for Clif Bar who doesn’t pay them but who pays all their expenses to run marathons. My pacer, Sharon, had run 63 marathons. Ed signed up for the 5 hour pace group and Larry and I for the 5 ½ hour group. Technically, you don’t need to sign up and you can drop out of or join a pace group at any time. The pacer will keep his/her group on pace to finish the marathon in the time indicated. Our leader looked at her watch constantly. We ran for 5 minutes and walked 1 minute continuously. If we ran too fast, we walked more to stay on our 12:37/mile pace. We did that for the entire 26 miles and it made my marathon easy and fun. My friend, Janice, has run with pace groups for years. She is 61 years old and does the White Rock Marathon every year. I never understood before I tried it why it made such a difference.
Basically the race started downtown. We ran through the West End, past the YMCA and up Olive to McKinney. We passed by the building where I work, passed restaurants where we eat on Fridays, and areas that we visit on our daily lunch runs. We ran through Turtle Creek and then up into Highland Park—the area we had ridden through the night before. I stopped to use the restroom at one of the water stations. That’s tricky because the group won’t stop for anyone. You run ahead as much as you can and then catch up afterward. That was my one-and-only bathroom stop and I’m glad I didn’t have to do that again. The spectators were few and far between downtown but picked up quite a bit through this area. People came out of their houses and waved and shouted. Some people had their kids lined up on the curb—all bundled up—shouting words of encouragement. This was one of the best parts of the Marathon. We still felt fresh.
We got to know some of the people in our pace group. Janice ran with us as did J.B. who I’ve run with for years. I often ran the first part of the Half Marathon with J.B. when he was running the full Marathon. He used to be pretty fast but now he has arthritis in his knees and he had trouble keeping up. Of course, Larry was always at my side. Larry is a real card but super, super nice. He talks to anyone and everyone and he’s always upbeat. We talked with two girls from Idaho. Their husbands were on bikes and kept stopping to take pictures of them. One of the girls was named DeAnn. She said people used to call her Dean in grade school so she made the A capital and it stopped. There were quite a few older people in our group—one lady who was running her first marathon at age 60. The pace group leader kept us going. She sang a bunch of songs that I think she made up. They were like army songs where the leader says one thing and everybody repeats it. Ed said his pace leader didn’t sing at all.
After going through Highland Park, we made our way to Central Expressway and passed by the building where every Monday night we have our Families Anonymous meeting. After that it was up to the Granada Theatre on Greenville and through more neighborhoods that were less affluent. By mile 9 we were very close to White Rock Lake and by mile 10 we were there. White Rock is where 80% of the people running the Marathon train. We were on very familiar ground. We passed the paddle boats, the construction, the trees that always smell of bird droppings and down under the bridge where we had stopped so Larry could have a wardrobe adjustment during our 21 mile training run. Then it was up to Northwest Highway and back down toward the Lake and the 13.1 halfway point.
Psychologically I always feel better after the halfway point of any race or training run. I started to perk up. I started to feel like I really could finish. I started to enjoy the feel of my feet hitting the pavement and the scenery at the Lake. I noticed it felt like it was getting colder. I put my jacket back on—hiding my A&M T-shirt. We kept on plugging—past the yacht clubs, the Bath House and Winfrey Point where many of our previous races had started and finished. We turned up Garland Road, past the spillway and then made the turn that leads to the dreaded Dolly Partons.
You can probably guess what the Dolly Parton hills are—and they’re not fun, especially at mile 20. The beer is always right before you go into the first hill. It’s tradition. I downed a small tumbler full and toasted my old runnin’ buddy, Greggy, like I told him I would. The guys with the fake boobs were in their usual spot passing out water. Our pace leader kept us going and, miraculously, the hills weren’t that difficult. There were a few more uphill grades but the spectators kept reminding us that the next 5 miles of Swiss Avenue were all downhill. Besides we were back in the neighborhoods and the well-wishers were plentiful.
We kept on truckin’ and kept singing with Sharon. We were ticking off the miles. We came to the beloved Snickers bar water stop. By that time, I was sick to death of Gu and oranges and wanted something more substantial. Snickers bars cut into bite-sized pieces did the trick. We could see downtown Dallas getting closer and closer. We brought more people into our little group but also many dropped out. Some of our original group, like DeAnn, ran ahead. We noticed that we hadn’t seen J.B. for some time. I think he dropped out before we left the Lake. Some people were joining us, happy to have found someone to lead them to the finish line.
Finally we entered downtown. We only had about 2 miles to go. We ran past many familiar sites—Old City Park, Chase Tower where I used to work, the Art Museum and the YMCA. We were horses smelling the barn. At one point I looked up and was surprised and happy to see Ed. He was walking with a guy he introduced to me as Manny. Ed’s hip was bothering him so he had dropped back from his pace group at the Lake. Manny had picked him up and became his cheerleader, urging him to keep going despite the pain.
Ed, Larry and I were zeroing in on the finish line. People lined the road on both sides. Larry’s wife, Dorothy, was standing under a tree, waving and shouting. Larry’s two kids ran out onto the road, running alongside him, urging him to run faster. Ed, Larry and I ran side-by-side. When we got to the finish line, we crossed under it, all grins, holding hands with arms raised. Flash bulbs erupted, saving the moment for posterity. We had done it!!
Katie was there to meet us at the finish. She was all smiles although numb, after 6 hours of being out in the cold and nearly freezing rain. When you’re running, your body generates heat. Not so when you’re sitting on the cold concrete, clipping chips off runners’ shoes. We were wrapped in a thermal sheet by a kindly volunteer and given a Finisher’s Cap by another. Ed, Larry and I went to get our picture taken, weary but smiling.
By the time we got there, the after-race party was nearly over. Most of the food was gone and so was the beer. We did manage to get a little pasta salad but we were cold and still very hungry. Starbucks sounded just right so, after hobbling around to find Katie, we headed there. The white chocolate mocha and egg-salad sandwich really hit the spot. We sat and basked in our glory.
No comments:
Post a Comment