Mom and I were excited to get this goal in our life going. We had to leave the house at 6:45 a.m. to get down to the London Bridge. Half Marathon runners took off at 7:30 and 5ks at 7:45. My brother went to the front of the pack to tack off. Mom and I followed his instructions to stay kinda in the middle or back. No problem, I didn’t want to get ran over by the serious runners, cause I was a starter.

And, were off. Mom and I stayed together most of the time. She was able to jog the whole time. I would fall back every once in a while to give me a break, but never got to far from her. After the 3rd mile I was shocked to see my husband standing on the side of the road with the camera. He stated as we went by that it had been 33 minutes. I later found out that my brother had went by him about 18 minutes after start time, wow. As we crossed the London Bridge I see one of my best friends Nadia, standing there taking pictures and cheering me on, and with her was Tamera and Steve. It was nice to have a visible support group.  Mom and I  stayed together till the 6th mile. As we ran the leaders were on their way back to the finish line. Mom stated we will probably see Josh soon. So I kept my eye for him.  I was ahead of her about 50 steps. Then, I got to a water station, where I needed my bottle filled up. The Havasu Half ran out of cups before we even got to the first water station (a mile in). So I thought great I will fill up and we will run on together. Well, no. Took a little longer for the teen to put the water from the jug in the bottle and mom scooted by with water in her hands and away she went. Which was fine with me, I keep telling “her don’t wait for me, you go”. I thought I would catch up but by the 7 mile. And, there he was, I saw my brother give my mom and a high five and hoped he would see me. He did. He put up his hand for the five and said “your doing great”. And, away he went.
By the 7th mile, I thought I was going to throw up. It was getting a little hilly for me. So I walked. I could see her quarter mile ahead of me. I was so proud of her. Look at her go, she was the one that kept doubting if she could do this. But, she knew dad would not let her forget that she gave up. So we finally get to the 8 mile turn around. To fill you in on the weather this day it was beautiful. Great temp a small breeze, couldn’t have asked for better weather. Well not at the 8 mile turn around. You turned around and the wind was forcing you back. I don’t know the speed but, I want to say 20-25? So as mom passed me going the other way and said “This wind sucks I will probably have to walk, I am sure you will catch up.” Well, she was wrong. At turn around I could just see a speck of her. I would try to run and it wasn’t a great feeling for my stomach. I could see the 10th mile in site and the hired camera man sitting in the street. Run!, I told myself. You don’t want pictures of you walking. The camera said ” You are doing great, keep going.” I said “I want your job.” I jogged up a hill to where we launch our boat, and O NO. I had that throw up noise that starts in your chest and works up to your mouth. My mouth closed tight and nothing came up so nothing came out. I got a little worried. So I got on the sidewalk and kinda bent over near some bushes. I thought if I’m going to throw up, throw up in between bushes so it doesn’t fly on anybody, or where it won’t be noticed. But, I maintained. I just had to walk…the rest of the…way. I kept looking for my support people. Where is my husband and kids? I thought they would be near screaming for me. I so needed it at the 11th mile. The only thing keeping me going was that I was 2 miles away, then 1 mile away. When I got over the London Bridge there was another camera man and I was not having fun anymore. No smiles, no running I wanted to BE DONE. As I turned to run down to the finishing area the men helping with traffic, could see the defeat in my face. They said “keep going only 200 yards to go” I said “Thanks, that is the only reason why I am still going.” As I tried to find a song to run in to, Miley Cyrus “The Climb” comes on, I almost changed it and I thought NO, this will be the one. I walked down the street till there was a bend in the road. I told my self run from the bend and across the finish line, and try not to throw up after you cross. I had Miley playing so loud in my ears that I didn’t hear the announcer say my name. But, my family and friends did. Ten feet after I crossed the finish line, they were standing there, screaming my name taking pictures. It was so great that I started to cry. I put my metal on and Nadia grabbed me for a hug, where I totally broke down and cried. Then I hugged my husband and he asked if I was okay, and told me he was proud of me. Everyone asked why I was crying “I’m happy to be done, and that I did it.” It was an emotional blast to see friends and family there for your first major run.
My husband wanted me to run and jump in the lake. I just smiled and sat down took off my shoes and found NO blisters. My brother had told me to turn my socks inside out and it may help. It so helped. Thanks Josh. It was nice to sit with Angie and bask in the glory that we had done it. We were done. When I was ready to walk, we headed over to get some fruit and water and watch my sister in law get her Major Awards. She received 2 plaques one for 3rd place woman runner over all, and 2nd place in finishing the 5k. Good job girl!
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