Race support gone wrong!

Well, I had a great plan for Sunday. Unfortunately, traffic jams and so many people made it not so perfect.

At first the plan was for Shane to drop me off around mile 2 so I could run 3miles with momo. Then, he would park and meet us to pick her up at like mile 5 and run into the finish with her.

Well, I sorta overdid it on the training this week. That is apparently how I roll. I just had the fire in me after the Mexico vacation and wanted to get back into the swing of things. I'm not good at just easing into it... and I was feeling it! So, I decided to take a much needed rest day on Sunday.

Looking at the half marathon course map, and trying to figure out the best way to get Shane to meet Melisa, we found it. Right off the 51 highway I could get down the 24th Street & McDowell. The map showed it about 5.5miles, and a water/accelerade station. So, the plan was for Shane to be there at the end of all of the chaos of the station waiting for her.

Momo is pretty easy to spot. A visor, long braid, running skirt, and she's got that great running form. Relaxed and effortless...

So - I dropped Shane off and the dogs & I headed a few miles down to 40th & McDowell to cheer with Stacey & Dave.

As we were standing their cheering we realized HOW crowded it was. I wasn't spotting ANYONE. I eventually heard someone call MY name out. It was my friend Shari. She must have recognized the dogs :-) She has two vizslas so I'm sure Baxter caught her eye. Over the next 30mins of being there I only spotted one person I knew. Mike. He was holding the 2:07 pace sign. So - really I noticed the sign first, and Mike is really tall so I started screaming as loud as I could. Took him a minute, but he saw us :-)

I was starting to get worried that we missed Melisa, but out of no where Dave starts pointing and saying.. "isn't that... ugh, ugh.." he was stuck, but we finally saw Melisa. She ran back to us and said she couldn't find Shane... Ugh oh. Plan gone wrong!

Shane & I had already discussed what to do if he missed her. He expected to see her at about 9:30, so he would wait until 10, then start running.

I left 40th & McDowell at about 10:10 to get down to the finish... However, the new route makes traffic routing a little difficult. There was really only one way out, where the runners headed south and off of McDowell. The line to turn there was so long though, I turned around and spent the next 20mins trying to find an alternative route. Which Did.Not.Happen.....

I eventually made it down to the finish, parked...and watched at the 20k mark for another 30mins. I STILL did not recognize anyone. I couldn't believe that the crowd never thinned out! I mean, I guess that is the whole point of these big fancy races, but I guess I've just gotten used to and more fond of the smaller, less crowded ones.

Shane finally found me (we had planned to meet at a certain spot). After realizing he missed momo, he hopped in the race and ran about 8miles to meet up with me. I eventually got ahold of Melisa, but she was already on her way home. I tried checking on several other friends, but no luck.

My next mission was to meet up with IronJenny. I missed her at the expo because I was riding my bike, then wasn't able to make it to the group dinner. I really wanted to meet her in person!! So I was so excited when she answered my text and was at mile 24. Shane & I figured out how to get around the half marathon finish & find the marathon finish... (which was actually a little difficult).

It was perfect timing. We waited for abotu 15mins, then got a message she was on her way! I few mins later I turned around and recognized her right away! She looks just like her pictures, only had he most contagious big smile I have ever seen.

I have to say it is so cool to feel like you get to know people just by reading their 'journals.' Then, when you actually get to meet them, it's comfortable, like you've known them for some time.

It was a brief chat, I mean the girl just ran a fantastic marathon, but I'm so glad we waited and got the chance to see her. She even brought my dogs a Popsicle from the recovery area. Which they loved, by the way. It was gone in oh about 1min.

I can't wait to hang out with her more in CDA!!!!

So - I'm sad that I didn't get to cheer on more people, but I'm still glad I went. I'm also really glad I brought the dogs because there were SO many people that stopped to pet them, or kiss them, even had a girl ask to take Baxter's picture! I know how I feel when I'm in a race & I see people with their dogs - it gives me a little boost! I think Baxter & Abby did the same for others....

Congrats to everyone... including Mr. Torture Trainer Daniel who, despite being sick, ran a 3:15 to qualify (again) for Boston. He is a superstar!