We Interrupt this Broadcast . . .

Sunday, April 2nd, 2006, at 4:50:22 p.m., my wife Angela finished her first ever Marathon. I do not have to go on and on about how unbelievably impressive this is. She ran a marathon. In case you just arrived from Mars 5 minutes ago, that is 26.2 miles. Here she is 10 minutes before the race. Compare this pic to the one right after she finished-- surprisingly little difference.
The race, The Glass City Marathon in Toledo, began at 8:00 a.m.. While there were 398 people that finished the race, I am not sure how many began the full marathon. Lots of others ran five or two leg relays, and there was also a 5k run. All in all, we were told, about a 1000 people participated in total. Here is the main field just before the start.
Angela finished in 4 hours and 50 minutes, averaging 5.4 mph overall. Not too shabby. She got to know a couple folks, including a marathon vet named Jane (pictured below), who encouraged Angie along. She said she would not have been able to finish the run without Jane's help.

The kids and I also provided encouragement every couple of miles. We hopscotched from drink station to drink station, parked, and waited for her to come by, at which point we would hoot and cheer appropriately.

The 26 plus mile trek started downtown and stretched to Maumee, then back to downtown. It seemed a pretty scenic route-- they crossed the river twice, and ran along some picturesque bluffs and gorgeous homes at the beginning of the second half.

Of course, most of the second half Angie spent focusing on just finishing and not much else. After she passed the 22.5 mile drink station, I knew she would finish. She had come too far, and she is either just the right amount of determined or a teeny bit stubborn. Either way, I say good for her.

The kids and I had wanted to park and get to the finish line in time to take her picture as she crossed. Unfortunately, I don't know Toledo all that well and ended up gettin parked a full half mile from the finish and having to book it down there (with the kids!) to try and beat her-- we could see her coming up the route.

Again, because of my unfamiliarity with the area, I ended up having to dash in with the runners to get to the finish line-- we all kind of got funnelled into this boardwalk thing. Because I had not been running all day and I had to get to the finish line before my wife, I was blowing by everyone else. Of course, when I got to the finish table, everyone thought I was a participant and started yelling and cheering. So embarrassing. I handled it pretty well, turning around and whipping out the camera to get the finish pics. That quieted everyone down.

Here she is coming down the last 20 feet or so.She did not need the help this lady offered. She was just relieved to be done.
Here is the conquering hero with her biggest fans, save one. Congratulations, Angie!!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.