We had the privelege of joining Todd and Erica in Virginia Beach for a racing weekend! Jeff and I ran an 8K (5 miles) race on Saturday - the longest distance we had ever done! It was so amazing to run with over 8,ooo people along the ocean! I know there were 8,000 because I waved at 7,999 as they ran by me at the start!! The party after the race was on the beach - definitely an added bonus!
On Sunday, Erica ran a half marathon (13.1 miles) and Todd ran a full marathon (26.2 miles). We got to see Todd at the start of his race, then ran to the finish line to see Erica, then back to the half-way mark to see Todd, then back to the finish line to see Todd finish.
Jeff got to join Erica for her last mile to give her some encouragement, but he swears he wasn't much help since he was struggling to keep up with her! That girl is FAST!!! He also got to join Todd at around mile 12 - Todd talked his ear off and Jeff just sucked air!
Todd's goal in this race was to finish in 3 hours and 10 minutes - a time that would qualify him for the Boston Marathon. Something most runners try their whole lives to achieve. Most never do.
We watched the frontrunners fly by on the final half mile and started to watch our clocks, hoping Todd would be around the bend soon. A lot of really talented runners had dropped out because of the heat. There was no doubt it was him when he turned the corner. Out of a group of about 40 people he was running with at the halfway point, he was the only one left. Well, him and his pacer...who happened to be in his ear yelling at him with some profanities not appropriate for this blog! He totally motivated him...I would have knocked the guy out!
I have honestly never been as proud as I was watching him run his final two tenths of a mile. I kept imagining all he had been through to get to that moment. All the long training runs in the heat, rain, cold, early mornings, late nights. All the injuries he fought through. All the moments along the race when he thought he couldn't make it but he never gave up. Absolute determination, talent, guts, perserverance, and sheer will. A finishing time of 3 hours 10 minutes. A Boston Qualifier. Unbelievable.
So this blog's for you guys. We couldn't be prouder! And we can't wait to be there for Boston in 2011!
Todd before Mile 1...running with a crowd at this point!
Mile 12...smaller crowd of runners...notice the guy holding the stick with the 3:10 sign. You'll see him (and his little sign) again!
Mile 26...where is the crowd? Recognize the guy running with Todd? He's the pacer I was talking about. Todd said he was saying something to the effect of, "see that 26 mile marker? You're going to ^*# give up now???, congratulations you just lost Boston by 5 seconds you $%^$*#$#!!!!!
The final two tenths...no words to describe...
Ahhhh...there's our sign! Way to go Todd and Erica!!!!
Haley is a proud Niece! There is a really cool bond here that no one can explain!
****Edited to add: For those of you reading this who don't know Todd and I very well, this post is definitely coming from the heart. You see, until about fifteen years ago, Todd and I really couldn't stand eachother! Ask him. I really didn't make his childhood very easy ("Oh you must be Jennifer's brother - she never missed a single spelling word in my class!"), and in turn, he tried to torture me through my middle school and high school years (replacing my hairspray with water kind of torture). Funny how things turn around! Love you Todd!
