Marathon Day

Saturday was a great start to our spring vacation.  We drove to Lincoln and met Nate and Danielle at the running expo and then walked over to a running store.  Pictures of what I bought at this running store some other time.

We were invited over to carb up with the Helzer clan at dinner Saturday night.  We got to be a part of a fun family dynamic for a little while.  Danielle surprised me with the coolest charm... again to be pictured later.  Then we were off to the hotel so we would be ready for today.

Today, I witnessed thousands of people overcoming obstacles, fulfilling a lifelong goal or whatever other driving force caused them to push themselves to the finish line.  There were people trying to break PRs and people trying not to break down.  There were groups running for causes, friends running together and full families.  People who were much older, much younger and much bigger than I am were all headed to the finish line.  But the brightly colored group of bouncing heads and swaying arms wasn’t what I came to see.  I came to cheer on my running partner and her family.

We were successful at getting quite a few smiles and laughs (and a couple of curses) with our mile 3 sign.  Jim was a trooper, holding it the whole hour and a half we were there.  We kept waiting for the “next break” between people before we went to our next destination but that never really came.  Nate, Danielle, Amy and Scott came by in a crowd of runners and I would have missed them had they not yelled my name (which seems a bit backwards, if you ask me).

We found our next spot at mile 17 which doubled as mile 22 on the way back.  We got there in time to see the first place runner on his way back.  Jim became an expert cheerer as he found runners names.  I randomly called out “I like your shoes!” (personally, this is one of the highest compliments I think a runner can receive, right below “great form!”) or “way to go!” and tried to thank all of the pacers as they went by.  I snapped a shot of Danielle as we cheered her by.

At mile 22, Danielle still looked like a rock star, which was no surprise to me.  Jim pulled out our sign Shane suggested (don’t puke) as she went by and I went along side her for a really short amount of time just to tell her how awesome she was.  Whether or not going along in my jeans and street shoes was really appropriate at a marathon is beside the point. 

Then we hurried to beat her to the stadium, found Nate (who said he had a pretty good run but unlike a runner I didn’t ask what his time was [sorry, Nate, I know you did awesome!]), and watched her come across the finish line.  I got a sweaty hug or two and took pictures with our favorite racers.  Though the goodbyes we said were just for a while, I couldn’t help but tear up a little as we left.  I am so proud of Danielle for doing a full, so proud of Nate for doing his 4^th half and frankly, I’m just more bummed than ever that we became friends so close to their move.

We were back in the car and out of town soon after.  As I write this, we are somewhere on I-35 N in Iowa, about 3 hours out from our destination.  We are both still proudly wearing our “Run Helzers Run” shirts, which outside of the marathon area makes us kind of look like we are on our way to a cheesy family reunion (you know you’ve seen those shirts).  When I post this, we will be in Bloomington, MN, hopefully comfortable in our next hotel.  Mall of America is on the schedule for tomorrow. 

Awesome job to our favorite runners (and to the other few thousand, too)!