mark's half

this past sunday,

mark ran the cleveland half-marathon.

so did my sister, kristen.

her husband, jeff, ran the full.

The Nana and i gathered up 5 kids, snacks and a minivan

 (as well as some much-needed gumption)

and headed out early to cheer.

like, 6am early.

which, as you'll note in the 2nd and 3rd pictures,

is not my son's favorite hour :)

he found his own gumption, though,

and perked up for our Cross-Cleveland

Do-You-Think-This-Street-Goes-Through? 

adventure right quick. 

my apologies for the lack of photos...

i plead preoccupation.

i'll see if i can't rustle some up from other cameras.

check back.

in a week or two :)

uh, madison is ready...

noah, steve & the shu needed another 15-20 minutes :)

wagon, posters, celeste, steve, noah. PULL, MAD! PULL!

kristen, finding madison at mile 3.

mark, rounding mile 6.

noah and steve, watching for jeff.

poster children.

celeste helped madison cheer on her dad.

and there he is at mile 11 (in the sunglasses).

home again

we did it.
and i have the pictures to prove it...

mom, me, maureen and katie
picking up our numbers & gear bags

shua & logan: loading up for race day

i joined them.

markus, shu & i stayed in a hotel on the course.
clearly, he no trouble making himself comfortable.

730am

mile 8

mile 11

"if i've seen her go by once,
i've seen it a hundred times..."

katie at 25.8 miles
i ran with her for a minute,
totally impressed with my big sister.

my welcome-home sign


mom, mo and i finished
strong and right on time with our predictions.
we conquered the crazy bridge to canada
and the tunnel back to the states.
we were cheered on by markus, shua,
the dzaidzi, kristen, maggie (our 26.2 pit crew chief)
and katie's family: chris, celeste, steve and logan.

you really should read katie's final posting.
she was amazing.

currently,
we're all home, feet up--
yours truly with a juice glass of wine
and three delightful squares of dark chocolate to boot.
take that, detroit free press marathon.
take that.

making signs

halvsies

shua and i are rolling out in the morning.
though with The Nana, rather than The Roscoe, joining the party.

we're headed to detroit, michigan for the running of the Detroit Free Press Marathon by my sister katie. and the ever-so-speedy walking of the Half Marathon by myself, another sister, mo, and the Nana.

i've had a horrible cold this past week, so my lung capacity isn't at its best. i'm anxious, excited and full of the kind of pre-race jitters i haven't experienced since high school. i got my voice back today, though, so i have that going for me. at least i'll be able to cry out for more gatorade :)

you can check out the race map here.
you can check out katie's training blog here.

i'm swinging through the drugstore tomorrow on our way out for diapers (yes, i'm down to 4 total in the house...again), cough drops and camera batteries. so stayed tuned...

this ought to be a hoot.