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Thursday, July 16, 2009

My First Marathon!!!

After 8 years of talking about it, beginning to train for one in Honolulu in 2003 just before Caleb was born... I finally did it! 20 weeks of training, excitement, fear and a knee injury one week before the race, I crossed the finish line of my first marathon in Missoula Montana in 4 hours and 51 minutes! I trained the whole time with one of my best friends! Emily and I put in hours of training, and hundreds of miles, and crossed the finish line together! Really, it is hard for me to put into words the sense of accomplishment and pride. To achieve something that I never thought possible, is overwhelming. The Lord was with us in amazing ways as we journeyed 26.2 miles, from the blessing of the weather (it was horribly hot the day before, and a huge thunder/rain storm the morning after) to the people we met along the way, we felt incredibly blessed. About half way through the marathon, we met up with a man named Jim. Jim is 74 years old and has completed over 200 marathons, and 60 ultra marathons. Just 8 weeks earlier he had a medical procedure done on his prostate, and was not sure if he would be able to finish this race. He was such an inspiration to us! During the next several miles, we had the chance to talk about our journeys, difficult times, and joys. He was such a gift to Emily and I. It was quite humbling, as part of why I wanted to run the marathon was to celebrate my 30th birthday, and here was a man, old enough to be my Grandpa, schooling me on what it really is to be a marathoner! ;o) I will never forget the love the Jim shared for the Lord... He said at one point "You know, a lot of people are excited for heaven because there will 'be no tears' and they can 'pet the lions'... me, I just want to be with Jesus." I know I will be learning many lessons from Jim, as I reflect back on that time. The three of us crossed the finish line together, and I just wept. My boys were all there at several points along the race, cheering me on. It was overwhelming the impact they had on my resolve to finish! All in all, it was an experience that could not have been better. One that I will treasure for the rest of my life. I am abundantly blessed, and honored that I was able to celebrate the milestones of life in this way.

Here is the big expo tent that we went to the day before to pick up our numbers, shirts, and shoe chips.
Jonah and Noah were my helpers... getting me all set for the big day!
Emily came up and gave me a big hug... my first tears started here!
They had this big sign for all the racers to sign... cool idea!

Here is my proud signature!
And, we are off!
Running to meet my boys!

FINISH!
Jim, me, and Emily
I could not have done this without you, Emily. I treasure you, and I will forever remember this experience as one of the greatest ever!

Me with My Boys! They all had matching t-shirts... The Boys' said:
"On a scale of 1-10, my Mom's a 26.2"
Matt's said "On a scale of 1-10, my Wife's a 26.2"
I got SO many comments on what a beautiful family I have....Oh, my, how I know. I thank God for them, most. Matt, without your support, I know I could not have accomplished this. You are an incredible husband and father. You deserve a medal, too.

4 comments:

Jeana said...

That is so awesome, Christine! Congratulations!

Neuropoet said...

Amazing Girl - just amazing... :)

Beth Twist said...

I can't begin to tell you how VERY PROUD I am of you!

Hot Mama, indeed. :)

Newmommykai said...

This made me cry... you are such a wonder woman. A terrific sister, a loving wife, a wonderful mother, and this amazing athlete!
Wow... I so look up to you! You are inspirational and I love you!

the shirt idea (my mom is a 26.2!) is fantastic... I love it! :)