Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon

we drove from central NJ to Springfield, Ill for this half marathon.

it was a TOUGH course with some monster hills. there were not enough port a potties, they could have used more volunteers spread out instead of clustered at the hydration stations. but we had a wonderful time.

i ran at a pretty decent clip... but the hills kept me from a possible PR. but overall i'm happy.

there were some tear-jerker moments along the way... running, i hear a squeaking that kept getting louder and louder. it was a young man (an army soldier) who was running in full fatigues (in boots) and with a FULL PACK!!
he was running with a slightly older lady. he is her son. he surprised her the night before the race and did a late registration so he could run the half marathon with his mother. you KNOW this has me all verklempt. we talked about a man who is willing to run with his mom is a good man and we joked about how mom has to cross the finish line first!

the next tear-jerker moment was at about mile marker 7.5, just before a water station. there was a boy, about 11-12 who was the most amazing cheerleader EVER. he was YELLING at every single person who went by, telling the runner that (s)he was "AWESOME AND AMAZING" and he thanked everyone who went by for coming out and running. this kid made the next MONSTER of a hill just a little more bearable.

of course, i cried a little when i crossed the finished line at a hair over 3:10.

there was beer and donuts at the end!!



after the race, we visited the lincoln presidential museum. it was an amazing day.

thank you all for the words of encouragement, last week. it wasn't my best race but it sure was a fun race!

Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon

Love the pics! Congratulations!

Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon

Congrats! It sounds like the special moments made up for some of the organizational glitches with the event.