Half Full

We just celebrated an amazing weekend at Disney, competing in the Half and Full Marathons!  I know it might not SOUND fun to most people, but it REALLY was a great time... there is nothing like seeing all that hard work and dedication paying off as you round the corner to the finish line!  What a rush!  I LOVE doing this with Ryan, and have completely jumped on his Running Band Wagon, even though I am no runner!  Who wouldn't want to be completely encouraged by their husband?!?!  He's so amazing.

Here we are, waiting in our corral Saturday morning, before the Half Marathon.  13.1 miles of fun!  There were 27,000 people also running, including my sister Laurie, and her daughter Amanda!

Hands down, the best part of the race:  The Magic Kingdom!!!  It is just the coolest thing to be running into that park, and hearing the workers say, "Welcome to the Magic Kingdom!".  Nothing like running down Main Street and seeing the castle, and seeing all the Characters out.  Nothing like the music playing, people cheering. 

I carried along Ben's little camera in my back pocket (Thanks, BEN!) to snap these pictures!  LOVE running through the back of the castle!

And this lady.  I have to say, pretty inspiring.  She kept passing me.  And yes, I had to run to catch up to snap this picture!  She was running with her Granddaughter, Alice, (You are welcome, Tracy... I was listening in on their conversation.... but mostly because my iPod lost it's charge by mile 2.  That's right, folks.  No music the whole way.  Grrrrrrr) whom she had to keep telling to "Hurry Up!!"  hahahaha.  Not sure if her name really was Alice, but I kind of like to think she was just calling her that.  It's way funnier that way!

And the Finish Line.  Loved seeing Ryan (he was certainly already finished by the time I made it there!) and the Family in the stands!  And The Mouse, of course!  My favorite part of this race was the fact that I never once felt discouraged or overwhelmed, and just really enjoyed myself.  Didn't get the time I was hoping for, but that was ok too!  I was so happy to finish in a good mood:)  3 hours, 22 minutes, and 37 seconds of good fun!  Ryan finished in 2 hours, 35 minutes, and 14 seconds... a record for him!  Yes, we could walk just fine afterwards, in fact, he took Ben and Carly to Hollywood Studios, and I went shopping with my Mom and Dad, brother and sister!

Shout out to my pal Betsy, who also completed her first Half Marathon!!!  So proud of her, since I know exactly how nerve wrenching the first one can be... I believe I have a new Half Marathon Pal!

NEXT morning... The Full Marathon!  For the 3rd year in a row, Ryan was taking on Goofy's Challenge, which is the Half on Saturday, and the Full Marathon on Sunday, for a total of 39.3 miles!  I was feeling REALLY bad for him as he walked out of our hotel room Sunday at 3:30am.  I knew I certainly couldn't have been going for a run!  But he continued to amaze me as I got text updates as he crossed over various mile markers and his time was EVEN BETTER than the day before!  In fact, he bested his Half time by 6 minutes and his Full time by 19 minutes over last year!  So proud of you, Ryan!  He finished in 5 hours, 23 minutes, and 32 seconds! 

For added fun this year, Ryan's younger brother, Rick, came down from Michigan with his whole family to run the Marathon.  He said he had an injured foot, but when I saw him at mile 18, he was a complete blur, so nice try, Rick!  He did so good, and of course, I'm proud of you, too, RICKY!  (That's for old times sake).  We had a completely AWESOME day with his family at the Magic Kingdom the next day, so that post will be coming soon. 

THANK YOU to my parents, and brother for driving over on Saturday to see us run, for braving the crowd and enduring hours of waiting, and for being around us all sweaty!  Ewww.  And for entertaining me with shopping in the afternoon! 

THANK YOU to Rochel and Edgar for spending the weekend with us, cheering for all of us and hanging out... no easy task with 2 small children!  And THANKS for the coffee on Sunday! 

THANK YOU to my sister, Laurie, and Amanda for spending ANOTHER Marathon weekend with us! And for running, too!  I loved our time at the Start, and getting to see your excitement!  And of course, Epcot on Sunday.

THANK YOU to Rodney... I so appreciated your help with the kids, getting them to the Finish Line for us, and helping me so completely on Sunday during the Marathon!  You are there for us.  As always. 

THANK YOU to Rick and Kristi for coming, too!  LOVED spending time with you guys and your very funny little kids!  Isaiah and Carly were so ready to swap spots, forever!  And I am still considering snitching Julean. 

THANK YOU to my amazing husband for encouraging all of us to better ourselves!  I can hardly express to you the joy I felt when you got your Half time under 2:30 during the Marathon!  Seconded only by your time at the Finish.  You are everything.

... and not so lastly

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

2 Corinthians 9:15