26.2

I did it! I finished my very first marathon!

The morning started early--my parents and I left our house at 5:30 and we got to the starting line at 6:30. We were staying warm in the car when I realized I had forgot my timing chip. Oops! I quickly ran to the "Solutions" tent and told the lady my predicament. She rolled her eyes at me and then wrote my name on a paper with about 20 other names and she gave me a new chip. At least I wasn't the only one to forget!

The course had 200 feet of elevation gain from miles 5-10, so I trained on a 2 mile hill here in Boulder with 500 feet of elevation gain. The Boulder hill is SO much bigger; I hardly felt the uphill.

My friend Jeff (from the laser show, not the fisherman) also ran the race. At about mile 9, I looked to my left, and Jeff was passing me! I said hello and we chatted for a minute or two, and then he ran on.

A man had a pink poster that said, "Run Mark." Said man would be at a spot until Mark passed, and then get in his car and drive down the race course about two miles and cheer Mark on again, then move down the course again. After seeing this man about four times, I cheerfully commented as I ran by, "Mark sure has a great cheering squad!" After this, the man started cheering for me, too! It was really fun to see them. I really wanted to take a picture with this guy at the end of the race, and I was curious to see who Mark was, but I didn't see him after about mile 20. I guess I was too fast for Mark :)

After my parents watched me start my race, I they went to the gym at mile 15. They worked out, showered, and came out in time to watch me run by. It was good timing and very convenient because my mom had more ShotBloks for me. Then they went to breakfast and then to the finish line. The finishing area was really fun because people lined both sides of the streets and cheered you on. It's so nice to have people cheering for you! It really energizes you! I can't imagine how awesome it'd be to run in a huge race like the New York City Marathon or the Boston Marathon, because so many people would come out to watch the race and cheer on runners.

My final time was 4:39:37. I'm proud of myself for finishing, and I'm looking forward to my next race. Anyone up for running the BolderBOULDER with me?