Ordinary People

...doing amazing things.

As I mentioned before, I know a lot of people that were running in the Twin Cities Marathon last Sunday. And they all finished! Well, almost all. Jen hadn't trained, so she had no intention of finishing, only starting. I didn't get to see Doug, Mike, and Debbie, because they were in the middle of the pack. Kudo's to Debbie, first time marathoner. Three years ago when I was training for my first marathon, I made the mistake of trying to run with Debbie. Let's just say, she was too fast for me. She finished Sunday's race in 4:30.

I wanted to "be there" for my friends, the way that others have supported me in my races. I didn't get to do as much as I would have liked, because I had to prepare for an open house. But I did what I could, and they appreciated it.

I took lots of pictures, so let's get to it. First the start of the race, between miles 2 and 3. Everybody looks so excited!

Cheryl and Marcia started out together.

AmyBee was right behind them. They were with the 5:30 pace group.

Here's Elle. Remember her? I met her on a long run last spring when she was with her training group, Team Salubrious. Then I saw her at the Twin City 1 Mile race. She also ran in the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon last summer. I had forgotten that she was running the marathon, but I'm glad I got her picture. This girl has heart! I saw her at the end of the race. Her finish time was 7 hours, so she didn't get a medal. But she finished!


Dree was off to a good start.

And here's Club Run buddy Jen. We ran the Urban Wildland half-marathon together a couple of years ago.

That's it for the start of the race. When everyone had gone by, I went home and started cleaning to prepare for the open house. Then I stuck some ice cubes in a plastic tub, grabbed some gels and headed to the race.