my 26.2...
sunday i got to check "run a marathon" off of the short list of things i want to do before i die. given that the times i get to check things off that list are few and far between, it was an exciting day. i'll spare you the play by play and give you just a couple of the highlights:
have you heard about the guy who does triathlons and other events with his quadriplegic son...well he was there. his son was strapped into some sort of cart that he pushes along as he runs. it's one of the more amazing stories if you haven't heard of them. he actually pushed/carried his son for an entire iron man triathlon a while back. here's a video from it that would make a grown onion cry. (if you watch it with the idea of the dad pushing his helpless son being like god carrying us along...you'll cry...a lot...just so you know)
speaking of crying, my personal highlight was a little past mile 25: so, i've always heard that marathon's are very emotional things toward the end. i never really gave it much thought until yesterday, but at this point in the race the thought came into play. now we all know that i do not cry (due to my self diagnosed "under-active tear ducts") but i got as close to it as you can get without tears actually leaving your eyeballs. why, you ask? well, part of the story involves a high school band. the other part is some bible imagery. there's that whole image of running a race correlating to the christian life. running the race and having the encouragement of those who have gone before us to push us on. this imagery pops into my head as i round one of the final curves in the road and hear people cheering us on, and see us running, limping, jogging, walking, toward the end with whatever we have left in us. given the weariness of my body i may have had some sort of emotional response at this point anyway but the little band i mentioned earlier now comes into play because what are they playing/singing: "when the saints come marching in". having that song as the background to my thoughts added so much to the weight of the imagery that the tear ducts almost couldn't handle it. that moment alone was definitely worth not being able to walk for the past two days.
...oh and 4hrs.
Posted in: on Monday, February 25, 2008 at at 7:14 PM