Well I wish I could say I ran one yesterday--say, the "River Run" from Berea, Ohio, to Rocky River. But no. What I did was
watch the finish of my first half marathon, which is 13.1 miles. I watched my daughters Emily and Julia, and their husbands Brian and Ed, finish their runs. I must say that it was so beautiful, so inspiring to see this. First of all, I couldn't believe how many people finished this race. They ranged in age from teens to 80 years old (an 80 year old woman, Pauline Beatty, finished the race in about 4 hours and fifteen minutes--she was last of the finishers, but maybe the greatest champion there!). The overall winner, David Petrak, ran the race in 1:07:32, which to me is astonishing. My son-in-law Brian Homan ran in the race in 2:03:19; Ed Kleppel was not far behind at 2:10:47; and my daughters, Julia, and Emily, ran across the finish line together around 2:19:20, give or take a couple seconds.
What I didn't realize was first of all
how many people could do this. I'm guessing a thousand people or more finished this half marathon. And they did it with such enthusiasm and esprit, and for the most part a spirit of cooperation. I'm sure that among the top finishers there is an intense spirit of competition, but I think most of the runners were running against the clock and their previous performances. Maybe many were just running against the distance, to see if they could do it.
What a wonderful inspiration this was. Makes me want to participate in walks and runs. Not sure if my 67-year-old legs could run any great distance, but I certainly could
walk a 5K, 10K, or even 13.1 mile event. And I plan on doing that soon!
Some photos:
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| Julia and Ed at the finish line |
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| Brian, Emily, Julia, Ed |
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| Emily and Brian |
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| Julia with Colin, Emily |
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| Em and Julia, running pretty hard toward the finish line |
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| The last stretch of the race, through Rocky River Reservation. |
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| Ed flashed by me before I could get the camera ready. He's in a dark gray shirt. |
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| Linda, with Colin, watching the race. |
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