We had to go the day before to pick up the race packets and to check out the expo.
A side note that I find interesting is that auditions for the tv show America's Got Talent were going on that same day in that same building. Kind of cool seeing some of that.
We went for dinner and back to a friend's cottage to hang out together, watch an inspirational documentary, and head to bed somewhat early. We awoke on race day at 4 am. (That part was not so much fun.) Then took off towards St. Louis at 5. We arrived and traffic was not as bad as I was expecting, so we got parked and headed on foot about a mile to the race area.
Another side note. I have heard about homeless people. I have been close to those that ministered to homeless in St. Louis, but I have never seen it with my own eyes and been so close. During our walk to the race area we passed several people sleeping in store doorways and I was completely humbled. Then, on the way back to our cars after the race, we saw a tent community and signs about the bad economy and how it needs fixed. Wow! I think I have it bad when I can't afford new shoes to run in. Talk about perspective.
Once we got to the race area we stretched and found our corral. And we watied, and waited, and waited some more. See the funny thing is that if you aren't really racing or planning to run very fast, they put you at the back. And in a crowd of 21,000, that's pretty far back. The first racers started at 7:30, but we did not get to cross the start line until 8:00. But, off we went. And after all that standing and waiting, I was ready to start sprinting, but I didn't. We walked, and walked, and walked.
Jim had planned to come see me cross the finish line, but he texted me during the race and said that he wasn't going to be able to make it, but he also told me that he was tracking me on the computer. You see, you wear a tracking device and at the start line, you cross a tracker and at a few other intervalls along the race, so he was able to see how quickly I was moving and a projected finish time. After about 9 miles, he said I should finish in 3 hours 8 minutes. One of the other girls said that she would love to finish in under three hours, so we decided to make that the goal. So we ran some. At mile 12, we split up and decided to make our own best effort to get to the finish line. I have never ran so much in my life (and it wasn't even that much). I crossed the finish line after 3 hours 1 min and 41 seconds. I am not sad. I am ellated. That seems to be a great first finish time.
After crossing the finish line, I was handed a medal. A really cool medal. I am so proud of it.
The experience was one of a kind. They were so many people there to support their loved ones and even strangers. There were people holding signs and ringing cowbells, there were cheerleaders and bands. I had a lot of fun. And it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be 5 months ago when we began training for this.
I am already planning my next one. I think these are a bit contagious too, because Jim says he wants to do the next one with me. And several of the girls said the same about their husbands. So, unless you want to be sucked into running a half marathon, don't get too close to me.
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