Saturday, November 14, 2015

ThunderRoad Marathon

Today I ran the ThunderRoad Marathon.  I trained for 5 months with the Isabella Santos Foundation and raised money to help fight pediatric cancer.
Our ISF Dream Team met at the starting line before the race to get motivated for the big day ahead of us.
At mile 7 I looked up and saw a giant Minion balloon ahead of me.  I knew what that meant, my family was there cheering!!  It was awesome to see the kids with their signs, Mom & Dad and Gill (who was ready to refuel my belt, and help me prepare for the miles ahead). 
Our family shot at Mile 7.
After seeing them at 7, I felt energized and ready to conquer the rest of the race.  It was a beautiful day and  was having a great pace.  I saw them again at mile 12.5 - the minion balloon beckoning.  I stopped for a hug, a refill of water and more motivation.  Then, I also said goodbye to Mom, Dad and Patrick - as they were taking Patrick to his soccer tournament.
I won't lie, things got hard around mile 18.  My pace slowed and things began to ache.  But, I knew that Gill, Finn and Sully were at 19, so that helped a lot!  With final hugs, water refills, extra fuel and a bit of advil, I went out to conquer the last 7 miles.   It wasn't easy but the crowds were awesome, the police cheered me on and I knew who was at the finish line waiting for me.  
I'm proud to say I crossed the finish line at 4:34 (3 minutes faster than my last marathon).  It was a great race and I'm so lucky to have my family's support.

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