Crossing the Finish Line - 26.2 miles

I finished! Yay for that. Unfortunately, if anyone has seen my times on the Marine Corps Marathon site (and the pictures of me running which are awful!) you will have thought to yourself how SLOW can she go?! ;-P However, considering the injury I was dealing with for about the last four weeks, I’m satisfied with my performance. My first goal was just to finish – and I accomplished that. Thank heavens for the GREAT massage therapist I saw a few days ago. In large part due to him, I was able to actually run the marathon (which I was believing I might not be able to do at all) and was in less pain – until about mile 21. Then the pain really started to get bad again so that I had to slow down considerably just to finish, but I did finish. 5:26:29.

With my finisher's medal

The marathon was amazing. SO many people! It really was like a HUGE street party. I’ve read time and time again that everyone who runs marathons should run the Marine Corps Marathon at least once. They’re right. I can’t believe how well it went considering over 35,000 people entered and a little over 17,000 finished. The Marines were really great and the crowds were wonderful and did wonders in keeping you going. I’m definitely glad I did it, but probably won’t do again. The logistics of getting to and around Washington, DC are just not our cup of tea. We like small cities or towns. DC is just too big and crazy for us.

Someday I’ll probably do another marathon though, and hopefully I’ll run it the way I wanted to run this one – comfortable and a bit faster. But I’m happy I did it and happy for the charity I ran for. Running Strong is a very motivating and worthwhile cause.

Chuck & Cheryl at the Running Strong tent after the Marine Corps Marathon

My sincerest thanks go out to everyone who supported me in one way or another. And I cannot possibly thank my wonderful husband, Chuck, enough. He always supports me in whatever I do. He’s absolutely the best cheerleader anyone could ever have. I can’t even describe how much it means to me – not just thoughout these months of training and throughout this marathon, but throughout my life. No one could ask for a better husband and best friend.