LA Marathon

This is me at mile 15.  My friend Heather and her family, were the only people I saw who I knew along the course.  Everyone else I knew was running or waiting at the finish line.  It was fun to see her two times during the run.  Thanks for the picture Heather!

04:06:59  My official time!  I was 56th place in my division.

04:14:23  Brett's official time!  270th in his division.  Marathons are so much more competitive for men.  What an accomplishment!  It was really a great experience like none other.  As we approached the finish line we both become emotional.  I can't tell if I was crying cuz I was in so much pain or if I was crying cuz I accomplished something so great.  Maybe it was a combination of the two.  Brett was ahead of me for most of the marathon and somewhere at the end I passed him, and neither of us knew it.  I was looking for him the whole time.  I would have ran the end of it with him had I seen him.  We both hit the wall around mile 18.  His knees buckled on him about mile 20.  And for about 4 miles for me my pace dramatically decreased.  The strong people around me were my only motivation to keep trying and keep pushing, so I did and the last 4 miles my pace increased slightly till the last .5 miles, I was running so hard with the people cheering and the adrenaline surging through my body.  It was an amazing feeling.  I don't think I will run another marathon, although my sisters say if they do one they will pressure me to do it to.  We will see.

Our first marathon, we didn't stay together, but we were running it together, and we finished.  My mom was out there too, her time was 04:46:02 and she placed 30th in her division.