Day 292 -- Wildlife Marathon and Kids' Dash
I am so proud of my husband. Today he finished his first marathon!
He was in a lot of pain pretty much the whole race, as his IT band has been giving him some major problems lately. He was frustrated, exhausted, and unhappy with his time. He swears he will never do another marathon.
But, he finished!
I packed up the kids and pretty much chased him around the course all morning, loading up and unloading kids at various points along the race. We made three signs on obnoxiously bright posterboard that said "GO", "Daddy", and "GO!" Each of my children held a sign as the runners came past. The "Daddy" sign had "Runners" on the other side, so that made it a little less awkward for the 500-some-odd runners we cheered on that were not Colby.
There were three specific parts of today that I was so grateful for:
1) We found a spot about 10 miles in that boasted a pretty giant hill. We parked the car at the top of the hill and camped out for nearly an hour, during which time we went crazy for every runner that came up. The kids went nuts clapping and parrotting some of my favorite catch phrases, like "You own this hill!" and "This hill's got nothing on you!" I'm pretty sure that we were a bright spot to at least some of the runners struggling up that hill.
He was in a lot of pain pretty much the whole race, as his IT band has been giving him some major problems lately. He was frustrated, exhausted, and unhappy with his time. He swears he will never do another marathon.
But, he finished!
I packed up the kids and pretty much chased him around the course all morning, loading up and unloading kids at various points along the race. We made three signs on obnoxiously bright posterboard that said "GO", "Daddy", and "GO!" Each of my children held a sign as the runners came past. The "Daddy" sign had "Runners" on the other side, so that made it a little less awkward for the 500-some-odd runners we cheered on that were not Colby.
There were three specific parts of today that I was so grateful for:
1) We found a spot about 10 miles in that boasted a pretty giant hill. We parked the car at the top of the hill and camped out for nearly an hour, during which time we went crazy for every runner that came up. The kids went nuts clapping and parrotting some of my favorite catch phrases, like "You own this hill!" and "This hill's got nothing on you!" I'm pretty sure that we were a bright spot to at least some of the runners struggling up that hill.
2) Dharia ran the Kids' Dash event. It was her first ever race, which she completed while holding on to her Minnie Mouse stuffed animal. She got to wear a bib, and at the end of the short course, she received a medal. It was beyond cute. When I told her that she was so fast, she was all like, "I know....I won!"
3) Colby made it to the finish line. AJ missed him so much that she dropped her sign and ran out to meet him in the final 100 meters. I couldn't catch her, but he did. We all crossed the line with him. I know I have said this already in this post, but I was so proud of him and I felt so lucky to be the woman greeting him at the end of the race.
Thank God for the Wildlife Marathon and Kids' Dash!
Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for the memories that were made and thank you for helping Colby to finish. I pray that you would help his body to recover and fill him with a sense of accomplishment. In your name I pray, Amen.
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