Today has been a very big day.  Today one of my very best friends (meaning one of the very few people I can stand being around for more than ten minutes at a time) Meriel, ran her very first marathon. To me running a marathon is one of the biggest achievements of a persons life. It’s huge! I am so proud of her!

I wanted to show her how proud I am by being there to cheer her on the whole way.  

To get ready for the race, last night, I spent two and a half hours plotting a detailed map of the marathon route, comparing Meriel’s running time to our travel time, including getting the kids in and out of the car. I also gathered up the noisemakers, charged the camera and called my ex, Ben, no less than 12 times, reminding him that we all had to be ready to go at 8am sharp. 

Today, race day, things might have gotten a little out of hand.

7:00am  Open my eyes to daylight, immediately freak because I never oversleep, jump out of bed, shower, and dress (in many layers of course, in case of cold or rain)
7:27am  Call Ben to remind him to bundle the kids up. No answer. More panic.
7:29am  Call Ben 6 more times, still no answer.
7:36am  Check my bag 3 times to make sure I have noisemakers, camera, wallet and phone. Grab an extra whistle, just in case.
8:03am  Arrive to pick up Ben and  the kids. Run in the door, blow my whistle and jump around like a baboon.
8:05am  Put extra sweatshirts under the kids coats, I don’t want them to get cold. Assure them I have extra noisemakers for them in the car. Grab a rubber chicken squeeky toy, just in case.
8:08am  Thank Ben for making signs, even if they are a little small.
8:11am   Ask bothe children 4 times if they need to go potty before we go.
8:20am  Learn dollar store bag of noisemakers make no noise. Freak out again because there is nowhere to stop for more without getting stuck in traffic.
8:25am  Arrive at the 4 mile marker with a plan to stop for more whistles before our next stop.
8:27am  Take off the kids extra sweatshirts, it is too warm. 
8:30am  Embarrass Savannah and scare Jackson with maniacal cheering.
8:39am  Terrified we’ve missed her, there are so many runners
8:43am  Interrupted, by Meriel, in the middle of a “discussion” with Ben about how high to hold the sign with Ben.  Thank goodness, she was not going to let us miss her.  More maniacal cheering, right in her face.
9:05am  While stuck in traffic on the way to our next stop realize we have left Bens travel coffee mug, that he had to put down to hold up his sign, on the sidewalk.  Even though he asked me to remember it.
9:10am  Give children candy to help get them pumped up.
9:21am   Stop by Ben’s house because everyone does have to use the bathroom after all and to get another coffee.
9:42am   Ben thinks I have missed my turn, I don’t think so but turn around anyway.
9:47am  Turn around again, I knew I did not miss it.
9:55am  Stop at railroad crossing to wait for the train.
9:59am   Longest train ever, begin to panic.
10:06am  Find a perfect parking spot at the 13 mile marker, pointed in the right direction to get to our next stop. Feeling better.
10:21am  ”Discussion” with Ben about the easiest place to cross the street.
10:24am  Maniacal cheering, with Savannah this time. Jackson is now embarrassed. More candy.
10:26am  Savannah drops whistle in a puddle in the gutter. Wipe it off and try to give it back to her. Ben grabs it and suggests I calm down.
10:28am  Consider running into CVS to get a “snack” (more whistles) but wallet is in the car.
10:29am  Spot table with free clapping hands noisemakers and grab 7, almost knocking over a woman with a cane and a toddler.
10:34am  Put Jackson on my shoulders and cheer maniacally while being hit in the face with free hand clapping noisemakers.
10:46am  See Meriel running with her mom, SK, who jumped in to keep her company for a few miles (awesome!!). Start jumping up and down like a possessed baboon, whooping at the top of my lungs.
10:47am  Hold up signs so SK can get pictures, all the while yelling “WHOOOO! RUN! MERIEL!” right in her face while she stood there looking confused about why she was stopping.
10:48am  Yell “WHOO! KEEP GOING! WHOO! RUN!” while SK assured her she would catch up after taking our pictures (my kids are that cute)
10:53am  Inform my family that the fun is over, its time to get serious. Our next two stops are close together and we have no time to spare.
10:55am  Another “discussion” with Ben about where to cross the street.
10:56am  Let family know that I am sweating, hoping that tearing off my sweatshirt, hulk style, will remind them not to irritate me when I am too hot. It doesn’t work.
10:57am  Jackson is ready to go home and Savannah is hungry.
10:58am  Remind them that “fun time is over, we’ve got to hustle”
11:03am  Realize we have left another coffee travel mug that I was supposed to remember on the street.
11:07am  “Discussion” about which toll lane I should be in and when I should turn on my blinkers.
11:08am  Remind Ben that I drive every day and usually do fine with no help.
11:09am  Take the wrong exit off the interstate, turn around and take the wrong exit back on, taking us right back where we were.
11:14am  Sadly give up on stopping at mile 17, but relax because we have plenty of time to get to mile 20.
11:16am  Ben mentions the speed limit on the exit ramp.
11:17am  Fit of turrets that causes me to miss another turn.
11:18am  Illegal U-turn
11:19am  Reprimanded by ungrateful children.
11:20am  More turrets. Miss exit again.
11:35am  Stop at Ben’s, which he tricked me into believing was on the way, for more coffee, snacks and another potty break. Jackson falls asleep in the car.
11:45am  Find perfect parking spot in a fast food parking lot. Ben thinks we will be towed. He is wrong but I move the car, proving that I am better and smarter and more generous.
11:48am  Wake Jackson and immediately shove M&Ms in his mouth. We don’t have time for crabby three year olds.
11:52am  Give a few free hand clapping noisemakers to some little girls holding a sign that says “Go, Daddy, Go.” So cute, but my kids cheer louder.
11:55am  Maniacal cheering, with both children.
12:01pm  Start to get nervous we have missed her.
12:11pm   See Meriel and SK, who ran with her daughter for 9 miles to keep her company during the race (what a great Mom!), once again jump around like a possessed baboon, whooping at the top of my lungs.
12:15am  Go back to the car, take away all noisemakers, including the rubber chicken and throw them in the trunk to help allieviate the road rage.
12:23am  Miss the toll basket causing them alarm to sound.
12:24pm  Reprimanded by ungrateful children and ungrateful ex. Road rage was not alleviated.
12:29pm  Pull into parking deck where I can’t figure out how to get a ticket. Is there such a thing as parking garage rage?
12:32pm  Try to decide whether I should hit an Escalade or the brick wall in order to fit in my enormous gas guzzler into a tiny parking spot.
12:35pm  Whole family climbs out on the passenger side because I have parked 2 inches from the brick wall.
12:43pm  Make an emergency stop for both children at the port a potties. They have miraculously developed a sudden ability to hold it when they walk in and learn what happens to peoples stomachs after running 26.2 miles.
12:47pm  See family members in the crowd, including my first cousin Lewis (also Meriel’s first cousin, so we are kind of related but I don’t know what you call it. Cousins-in-law?) who finished the marathon in 3 hours 8 minutes and 58 seconds, qualifying for the Boston marathon!  Fortunately, I am paralyzed with fear that I am going to miss Meriel crossing the finish line, so I don’t do my baboon impression. 
12:49pm  Abrubtly stop chit chat and drag my children by their wrists through the crowd to get a spot close to the finish line, shouting at Ben to catch up.
12:52pm  Get situated in a perfect spot by gently nudging a couple of small children out of the way.
12:53pm  Maniacal Cheering.
12:55pm  See a better, less crowded spot on the other side of the street.
12:56pm  Grab Savannah by the shoulders and use her to bulldoze through the crowd before anyone else gets that spot. Loudly suggest to Ben that he should pick up the pace.
1:00pm  Wait, so I don’t get in the way of a woman taking a picture of her daughter who just finished the race.
1:01pm  Remind myself how impressed I am that this girl just ran 26.2 miles in order control my strong compulsion to grab the camera and throw it on the ground. She is taking up the whole sidewalk!!
1:02pm  That lady dodged a bullet.
1:06pm  Arrive in the perfect spot and began cheering maniacally.
1:09pm   Begin fearing I have missed her again.
1:11pm  Turn around to discover SK is standing right next to us. Relieved we haven’t missed Meriel.
1:17pm  SK spots Meriel in the distance. Get cameras ready.
1:19pm  Turns out it is not Meriel but woman who might be twice my age. Try to get a picture of her to show Meriel who her mom mistook for her. Her reaction will be funny.
1:21 pm  Maniacal Cheering
1:25pm  Begin to panic that Meriel has injured herself since the 20 mile mark.
1:26pm  Finally see Meriel.
1:28pm  Try to take pictures of her crossing the finish line while jumping up and down like a possessed baboon and whooping at the top of my lungs.

Meriel finished her first marathon in 5 hours, 28 minutes, 10 seconds.

At lunch I learned that this was also my cousin Lewis’ first marathon (it seems like he has been a serious runner since he first learned to walk, so I just assumed it wasn’t the first). When I was not able to use my “indoor voice” to control my enthusiasm it dawned on me that maybe I was wound a little too tight today.

Finally, I would like to say congratulations to everyone who ran the Richmond marathon and the Richmond half marathon today. I saw a lot of familiar faces and I was rooting for all of you. Even the ones who looked the other way and pretended not to know me, I understand.

 

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