Run, G, Run!

Sunday was the running of The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in the Country. (Seriously, it's in their advertising materials.) I love Marathon Weekend, even though I've never run a marathon. The distance scares me. I'm a runner(sometimes) but I've always been slow. So the thought of running for (what would be for me)well over 5 hours is daunting. Since the Ragnar relay that I ran at the end of August I've probably run a TOTAL of 15 miles. I need to get back out there and start running again. My friend G will be my inspiration.
Sunday was G's first marathon. She began training with a team from her work but was somewhat undertrained by the time Race Day arrived. Her long run had been only 16 miles and she was really worried about being able to finish the race. Her husband and I decided to meet her at mile 11 and mile 19 to cheer. The weather was pouring rain and about 50 degrees at mile 11 but she came running by with a smile on her face and a hug for her husband. We calculated her pace and stopped for breakfast and coffee before heading on to mile 19. We get to the course and we are seeing lots of familiar faces go by from our mile 11 viewing. But no G. We see the 5 hour pace group. We see the 5:30 pace group. At this point the crowd is thinning out, both runners and spectators. We waited until the last runner came by- with the offical race van following behind. Still no G. I'll admit that we thought she had had to drop out. It was wet and miserable for running and that couldn't have helped her. So we called G's father who was watching for her at mile 25, and told him that we had not seen her go by. He was disappointed and we hung up and headed back to the car, hoping that we would get a message from her, at least letting us know that she was ok.
We got back to the car and moments later got a call from G's dad. She just passed him at mile 25! She was running in the last 1.2 miles to the finish! We headed to the finish line- too late to see her run in, but we did meet up with her after she came out of the chute and put on dry clothes. She finished in under 5 hours. She was walking like Frankenstein's monster but she had finished her first marathon. I was and am so incredibly proud of her. Way to go G! (And she even said she might do it again next year. Seems like most people say "never again" right after the first one, and then later change their minds when the pain has faded.)
Check out some photos courtesy of the Star Tribune.