Marathon #3

I did it! I finished my third marathon.  I received that largest finisher’s medal in the nation, taking up about the same amount of space as my head and weighing about that too.  I finished in a very slow time, much slower than anticipated but I broke 5 hours so I guess that’s okay.  I don’t remember what it feels like to be fast anymore, but the race was enjoyable.  I never hit ‘the wall’, I never once thought I wouldn’t finish.  When I got exhausted, I slowed down and enjoyed the scenery.  It was really nice running in a place I’d never been.  It made the race, even though it took longer than ever, seem to go by quicker because of the new sites to see.  The people that are running to run and not race are enjoyable too.  I chit chatted with quite a few different people. I stopped at all the water stops and thanked everyone, I even had some beer at one of the non-official stops. 

It was a great time to meet up with my KC running friends.  I was the last of our group to finish and they were all there waiting.  We enjoyed some miles together, some food, and some great memories 🙂  Our hotel has a tradition where every night, they lead ducks out of their fountain in the lobby up to a suite in the hotel.  We got to watch Bart Yasso be the honorary duck master and lead them out.  It was definitely an amazing weekend 🙂