Today I ran a marathon. It wasn't at any well-known location and I didn't even have a race number or packet but it was a marathon nonetheless. Racing purists might not "count" it but I ran the distance and if anything it was harder than a real marathon because there weren't any crowds, cushy water stops every mile, or medic tents to stop at if you started feeling lousy.
Back before Ben, I voiced to Andrew the goal of wanting to run a marathon before each child we have turns one. Ben was born in January and with the craziness of our summer I didn't have as much time as I thought I would to put in a lot of long training miles. Add to that a nursing baby that likes his milk, trying to find a marathon late enough in the fall but close enough that we wouldn't have to drive forever became a logistical nightmare.
As the summer heat faded to fall glory, I started running more. I woke up early in the morning while Ben and Andrew were sleeping and joined my dear friend Cat for many miles. She was flexible enough to not be upset if I had to cancel because Ben was awake a lot at night and didn't mind if I was running late because the little guy wanted a last minute snack. Slowly I felt myself getting back into running shape and I started looking forward to the miles rather than dreading them.
Still, I could not find a marathon that would work. My dearest friend Jaynie (click on her name to read more about our running friendship) and I were talking one day and I'm not sure who came up with the idea but somehow we decided that rather than travelling we would put on our own marathon on the roads of Allegheny County where we trained for our very first marathon together eight years ago.
November 19th was the date we set and Cat and I started upping my long run miles. Today was beautiful. The sun was shining, it was warm for November as we all happily started our 26.2 mile journey. Not only did Jaynie run the entire thing with me but our friend Eileen cheerfully journeyed along. Cat joined us for 20 miles and another good friend Beth met us for 10. Jaynie dropped off water and snacks along the course, a family from her church had oranges, bananas and water at mile 16.5 and together we ran.
It was a beautiful, hilly marathon. Jaynie chattered along as we ran, we saw a lot of hunters out on their first day of rifle season and even noticed a bald eagle soaring overhead. Today wasn't so much about running a marathon as it was about friendship. Each of the women that ran with me today have been such wonderful friends to me over the years. We didn't care how fast we went but instead just enjoyed one another's company and worked together to finish each mile. Nearly every road we ran on held a previous running memory for me (most of them with Jaynie) and it was incredibly special to have so many friends support me as I met a personal goal. For some running is an individual sport but for me, the running is secondary to the friendships that have grown over every mile.
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