Oh My Gawd!
I have never been more proud of my husband than I am today! Twenty six point two miles in five hours and three minutes! His personal best by nineteen minutes.
For those of you that have never participated in or been a spectator of a long race like that...you have no idea what an accomplishment it is. Mile after mile, muscle cramps and dehydration and the desire to just stop kept him fighting a mental race along with the physical one!
At mile eleven, he looked pretty good. When I asked him if I could get him anything..he said "yeah, a ride to the finish line"! Silly.
At mile eighteen, he looked stiff. He changed his totally soaked long sleeve tshirt for a short sleeve one. The temperature had risen to 70 degrees and he needed to cool off. After a drink of Dasani and a piece of orange...he was off again.
At mile twenty three, I waited with Dennis' mom for him to make his appearance. Worried that he wasn't going to make it - - - - twice I got voicemails on my phone..both times I feared it was Dennis calling for me to come to him to pick him up.. Both times I was wrong and sure enough, right on time he came around the corner..grinning ear to ear! He was almost done! After another drink of Dasani and another bite of orange...he was headed back downtown.
At mile 26.2, I waited for his arrival at the finish line. I had extrapolated his probable pace and distance and expected him to cross the finish line at 5:11......so I waited. At 5:03 I saw that unmistakeable gait in a Red Raider tshirt and knew he'd won! Far faster than I ever thought he'd run a marathon and faster than I ever expected his last three miles! Grins, shouts and congratulations..mixed with tears! What a champion!
For those of you that weren't there today.....you certainly missed out on one of those PRICELESS memories!
Way to go Dennis....you're my Hero!
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