We arrived in Sipville (Austin) after a rain drenched drive about 3:00pm Saturday afternoon. Our friends Shellye and James, who drove down earlier, met us at the hotel and we all got checked into our rooms. We stayed at the Holiday Inn on Town Lake, and our rooms were on the 5th floor and overlooked the water. After we got to our rooms, Lori and Shellye went to the convention center to pick up Lori's race packet while Nana, James, Christopher, Aidan and I got a little bit of welcomed rest. During our down time, Aidan and Nana found time to play a challanging game of "I Spy" using the field glasses that I brought with me.
After Lori and Shellye got back to the hotel, and after calling about every Pasta restaurant in town, we finally found one who could accommodate a reservation for 11 on a Saturday night on a race weekend. (Word to the wise: It is a common fact that every long distance racer wants to "carb load" on the night before a big race, so if you plan on eating Pasta somewhere, please make your reservations early.) Before departing, I got a picture of Lori and Shellye at the hotel. For those of you who might night be familiar with Shellye or have not visited Lori's marathon blog page, Shellye is Lori's friend, and her courageous battle with breast cancer was the inspiration behind Lori's insane commitment to run 26.2 miles. Here is their picture:
We went to dinner and ate like kings. We met up with Lori's friend Tiffany, her husband Patrick and their two beautiful kids Abbey and Shea, and after having a wonderful time visiting and stuffing our faces, we decided to call it an early night. Most of us sleep pretty well, except Lori, who was understandably nervous, as she tossed and turned quite a bit.
As a beautiful and serene 5:00am rolled upon us, the silence was then broken by not one, but three different alarms. Yep 3 DIFFERENT ALARMS @ 5:00am........AHHHHHHH!!!!! After putting my heart back into my chest, I flopped out of bed with anxious anticipation of the days events. Aidan, Lori and I all got showered and dressed, and we were out of the door at 5:45am. Because it was so cold, Nana decided to keep Christopher in the room for the start of the race, and I believe each of them were able to catch a few more ZZZZZZZZ's. Shelleye and James meet us in the lobby, and off we went headed downtown for the start of the race. Oh by the way, when I say "off we headed" I mean "off we headed on foot for a very long cold walk." It was a 20 minute brisk walk to the start, and we were there plenty early. Here are a couple of pictures that were taken downtown about an hour before the race. First, here is Monkey boy Aidan looking pretty darn good for it being so early and him not having any breakfeast yet:
Next is a picture of Shellye and Lori about 30 minutes before the start:
Now we were at defcon 1 and Lori was behind the fence with all of the other mental patients. I believe it was at this time, after stretching a bit, she suddenly got the "Oh crap, am I really doing this" look on her face. Luckily for all of us, I was there to capture it in all it's glory:
Finally, the cannon sounded, the fireworks were ignited, and Lori shot out of there in a puff of smoke. Ok...I am exageratering...since there were 11,000 other racers around her, Lori puttered out of there like a snail on valium. While she set into her rhythmic pace, Aidan and I set out to travel to the 5 mile mark, and meet up with Shellye and James. (They had set off 15 minutes before the race to get there). Lucky for us, the way the course was designed, we only had to walk a little over a mile more to reach the 5 mile mark which was the first water stop. During the walk there, Aidan and I had a lot of fun, and got to see many new things. Here is a shot of a rowing crew passing under the bridge that Aidan and I were crossing:
We reached our destination, and after daddy caught what little breath he had left, (remember just two days earlier the flu had me feeling like the Grim Reaper would show up at any minute to discuss travel plans) we met up with James and Shellye. Marathon for the Cure, the foundation that Lori was raising money for, was the sponsor for the first water stop. Sunshine, the coordinator for Marathon for the Cure, and the contact that Lori has been in constant correspondence with, greeted us with a warm smile and just oozed friendliness. Aidan and I really liked her, and she gave both Aidan and me "Marathon for The Cure" shirts to wear. Here is a picture of Aidan and Sunshine:
Here is another of Aidan and James, both showing off their new shirts:
It was very interesting being at that first water stop. When the first group of elite runners came into view, it was really a site to behold. Watching the fluidly of their running is like witnessing moving art. It is that impressive. They run at what is essentially a full out sprint for 26.2 miles. The funny thing is, the 5 mile mark for them is nothing. Even though they had been sprinting the entire 5 miles, not one of them was breathing hard, and none of them took on water. They just glided by, and after a few moments, drifted out of sight.
Lori was in a group that hit the 5 mile mark a little over 40 minutes into the race. This group was setting a very good pace, and I was able to snap a couple of pictures of her brief appearance. Here she is arriving:
With a quick drink on the run, and an inspiring kiss from Aidan, she is off:
After Lori went on her way, Aidan and I stayed with James and Shellye and helped pass out tasty beverages to the remaining 7000 runners. We were there for about an hour, and needless to say, Aidan was a big hit. He was definitely the youngest person there handing out water and Power Aid, and he was also the cutest. He was a big help, and everybody got a real kick out of him. Here he is helping out the runners:
After we left the water stop, we started on our arduous journey back to the hotel. We wanted to meet up with Nana and Christopher, and get a little rest before we had to head back to the course to meet Lori at the finish line. After what seemed at the time like our own personal marathon, we finally got back to the hotel about 9:30am. My breath on the other hand, decided to take it's time getting back, and after site seeing a bit, it finally made it's appearance at the hotel about 10:00am. I was thankful.
James and Shellye met up with us at the hotel about 10:30am, and Nana, Christopher, Aidan, and me started our long walk towards the finish line. After 30 grueling minutes, we arrived at our destination. (I am quite sure that you guys reading this blog are feeling real sorry for us by now considering Lori had run about 25 miles by this time) We waited at the finish line with bated breath eager for them to announce Lori's name. A tremendous sense of pride engulfed our bodies as if we had actually run the race when we heard her name being called. What a great feeling. Even though she was tired and hurting a bit, I can only imagine the unbelievable euphoric feeling she must have been experiencing. Wow, 26.2 miles in 4 hours and 33 minutes. How great is that? Here are a few pictures of Lori right after she finished the race, with her finishing medal worn proudly around her neck:
Here she is walking towards us after the race:
And a well deserved hug from her proud mother:
The rest of the trip, which included a trip to our state's Capital building was rather mundane compared to the excitement of the Sunday morning race. We are all so very proud of Lori. Her focus has been inspirational. We were all very lucky to be a part of this milestone in her life, and happy she allowed us along for the ride. None of us will ever forget this weekend.
William
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