I finished!

Yup! I finished! How exciting! So the morning started off bright and early. We left the house at about 6:15. As we were driving up to Grafton I found myself thinking, if it takes this long to drive up to Grafton, how long is it going to take to run back?!?! What have I gotten myself into?!?!?! but then we got to the school and I settled down. Elizabeth helped me get last things ready, number on, figuring out what clothes i would actually wear (since it was not raining as I had anticipated). I went to the POJ (that would be port o John). Little did I know that the line was, what seemed to be, half an hour long! I got back just in time to rescue Elizabeth from her worry as the entire area where people were readying to run had cleared out while I was gone! Everyone except those of us in line for the POJ was lined up ready to start.

So we went our ways and I got smoooshed in the middle of the pack of people waiting to start. Eventually the person said over the PA, ready, get set, and I think there was a gunshot. Anyway, we all cheered and continued to stand right where we were since we knew it would take the people in front of us at least 30 seconds to begin moving. Jokingly, the person next to me yelled "here we go" and began running in place.

So off we went.

The first few miles went by pretty quickly, before we made it to mile one I ran into Sam, a young woman who goes to Cardinal Stritch and has done Reach Out Reach In. She was running with her dad and so we chatted for a little while. By the time we got to mile one, my shins were hurting (and they had been all week). I was worried. But before long that was gone. I'll get the pain stuff out of the way first: Honestly, my knees were what I was most worried about. They have always bothered me but there were only two, one-second-long shocks of pain during the entire run. Heaven! My legs began to cramp up around mile 20. Ok, no more pain stuff... it's depressing!

So then somewhere around mile 4 or so, we are running through the farmland
on this brisk morning and from a distance I could hear some music. Not just any music, but the best kind of music for running to--polka! I came closer and closer until coming to the yard from which this lovely music rang out. Sure enough, here is a wonderful old man standing in his front yard with a couple amps hooked up to his accordion, squeezing out lovely polka melodies!

Most of the run was downhill... very nice! It felt like I just needed to keep picking up my legs and I would keep going forward. So I get to Concordia University in what felt like 20 minutes. I am feeling good, and there I find some friendly faces. I ran with my water bottle and Elizabeth had a gatorade for me. I didn't want to carry the gatorade bottle, so I dumped it in the waterbottle, all of it except for the half which I dumped on myself, her, and her belongings! Way to go me. I was in a rush to keep going because I was feeling good and had someone to follow who seemed to have a good pace.

Now, in all honesty, most of the rest is a blur. I am really trying to remember but all I remember was that I kept running! It went really fast until mile 20 or so. I turn a corner and there was the most wonderful group of smiling faces and loud voices. It was just what I needed. That pushed me on for another half mile despite the happy tears that it brought to my face.

After the race, Elizabeth said that many people claim that a marathon is not half over until you reach mile 20. Well, I was done at 21. I was done. But I kept thinking of people that had sponsored me, repeating their names with every step. I kept looking at the people around me who wouldn't quit running... those jerks! And so I kept going.

Honestly, I would like to downplay the difficulty but each of the last 6 miles felt like it was 2-3 times longer than each of the first 20.

The last .2 the highlights are as follows:
5. For the first time, paying attention to random
people calling out my name and cheering.
4. Seeing the faces of people who came to cheer me
on (my jockstraps--get it, they are athletic supporters!)
3. Hearing Ben yelling out cheers as I could hear him
running along my right side behind all the spectators!
2. Seeing the finish line and hearing someone yell-"
"Jon--see the finish line?"
1. Crossing it and stumbling toward the energy drink station!

Of course, the best part of the entire thing was the people who were a part of the run, both from near and far. I really can't adequately thank anyone who supported me with funds, with running supplies, by being at the race, by putting up with the stink that emanates from me after each training run, in prayers, in thoughts, or in any other way. Thank you.

Anyone up for the Green Bay Marathon in May? The finish line is in Lambeau Field!
Crossing the finish line = living the dream.