Adventures with our Girls: My Marathon Man

Alliteration... haha... takes me back to Mrs. Cannady's 9th grade English class. Wow, starting with a tangent.

Ok, back to the point. Brandon FINISHED the Raleigh City of Oaks Marathon! It has been something that he has trained hard for since March. Through the hot summer (meaning early, early Saturday morning runs before the heat), crazy work weeks, and overall exhaustion he trained... and trained... and trained some more. I could not be more proud of him.

It's something, really, to watch someone work so hard to complete something and then seeing them finally doing that which they set out to accomplish. He was ready, boy was he ready! After those many months of preparing mentally and physically he was up to the task. The race started at 7am from the NC State Belltower (couldn't have been a better place). He left home around 5:45 that morning. A feat alone if you're asking me. Anyway, he started at 7 and ran and ran and ran until he crossed that beloved finish line (again at the belltower) at 11:39. A mere 4 hours and 39 minutes later, only to have travelled 26.2 miles on foot. On foot people!

I met him a couple of times out on the course at miles 14 and 20. At 14 he seemed like it was nothing. At 20 he seemed more tired and he said his legs were hurting. Then I rushed home to grab Adelaide (huge thank you to Amber for coming over during her nap) and get back out to the finish line.

The end was all a buzz with cheering people everywhere and so much excitement. It was really neat because I knew that all those people were there to cheer on their special someone, but yet they were cheering on everyone else's special someone too. We made it out there with a few minutes to spare and then he came running by. Tired of course, but going hard nonetheless. He crossed the finish line with his arms spread out like he was flying... a perfect ending! He was immediately given his medal and a shiny wrap thing to help keep him warm. Then came the hugs, congrats, and kisses. He got to see the "Go Daddy Go" shirt I made for Adelaide. It was emotional for us... more so that I thought it would be. That first family hug will stick with me for a long time to come. Anyway, after stretching and walking a bit he ate some pizza and we headed home. Praise the Lord, he did it!