America's Friendliest Marathon

Two years ago I started training for the Richmond, Virginia marathon. Any marathon that has the word friendly in the title, and junk food stations on the course is my kind of race. Sadly, my training was cut short with the jabbing pain of a knife in my foot, which led to surgery on both feet. It was two very long years. However, I promised myself that I would run again, and that someday I would complete the marathon that I started so very long ago.
And so as soon as I could run again, I started training. In my excitement, I overlooked my timing of things. I was teaching school all day, going to school for my master's at night, training for a marathon and trying to have a social life? Hmmmm. . . . Life was a little crazy, and yeah, I was a little crazy. Stumbling out of bed on Saturdays for 20 mile runs, running home from school for a 10 mile run while little flakes of snow fell. Yeah, a lot crazy. Many people told me not to do the marathon; life was too crazy right now, I didn't have anything to prove they said. On cold, dark mornings and evenings during long runs, I agreed with them heartily. However, in the end I knew this wasn't about anyone else. It was about me. It was something I needed to prove to myself; that I could run again, that I could beat this marathon, and in the end I knew that I could do it.
And so I ran on, and we flew into Virginia. We were welcomed by Hurricane Ida who blew in torrential rain and wind for the occasion. I couldn't help laughing, what were the odds? We ran from museum to museum with our umbrellas flipping upside down, crossing lakes of water in parking lots, as the governor announced a state of emergency for the state. Miraculously, the rain and winds calmed down in the upcoming days and by Saturday it was simply cloudy and cool. Perfect weather for the race.
The course was beautiful. It ran in and out of the city from funky downtown stores, through Monument Ave, along the James River, and then down tree lined streets in their fall glory. Then there were the spectators. It isn't called the friendliest marathon for nothing. The spectators were amazing. They lined the streets clapping and urging us on. They brought oranges, grapes, doughnuts, and cookies for the runners. There was even a group handing out beer, and while I don't drink, the runners in front of me sure enjoyed it. At mile 22, I gratefully took some gummy bears that propelled me to the finish line.
Signs lined the streets full of encouragement. Two signs stuck out to me. The first was at mile 20. It said, "Every wall has a door. Break through." Of course, this made me a little emotional. Because, for me the wall is in your head. It is what stops you from trying and accomplishing your goals. It is what tells you it is not possible, and I realized as I stared at that sign that I had already broken through the wall long ago. I broke through it signing up for the race, I broke through it training every day when it was hard, I broke through it starting the marathon, and so at mile 20 I wasn't worried about a wall, because I knew that I had found the door long ago.
The last sign said, "Explaining why you are running a marathon to someone who has never run one is like describing color to someone who was born blind." It's true, I can't explain to you why you would ever want to run that far and long, and put in so many hours of training, but if you have ever run a marathon you know why, because at the end of the race the feeling is indescribable.



St. John's church, on our second day in Richmond. None of the pictures from the torrential rain shower turned out, but you can still see what it continued to do to our umbrellas. This is the church where Patrick Henry gave his famous, Give me liberty or give me death speech.


We went to so many amazing historical sites. I learned so much about the Civil War. It made me want to teach fifth grade. This is at the National Park Service Battlefield Monument with President Lincoln. It says, "To bind up the Nation's wounds."


Here are my parents ready for the 8k. Yeah! They were such a huge support to me.


It was still chilly that morning, and I had an hour wait from the 8k till the marathon. I wisely stayed bundled up.


"Say Hey ( I'm in Love with You.)" The Ipod gave some good tunes of inspiration, and while my little nano died, and I had to lug around this huge guy. It helped build ginormous muscles in my arm.


Pizza at the end of the race! Who are these people, the friendliest people in the country?


Here I am attempting to ease the pain. Yeah, pretty much couldn't walk very well the rest of the day.


Here we are all posing in triumph with our medals at the end of our races. Yeah!



Sunday we went to church and then went for a stroll on the Canal Walk. Amazingly, I could walk pretty well. The sun was shinning. It was a beautiful 70 degrees. A perfect ending to our trip.