As Sarah has reported, this year’s race was quite different than the last two. We achieved a goal that escaped us in 1997 and 1998....we finished.

 

Two years ago, we were denied by a 25-minute late start that caused us to miss the 14^th Street bridge cutoff by 5 minutes. Last year, high temperatures led to Sarah collapsing from hyperthermia after 16 miles. This year, however, neither weather nor circumstances forced us onto the bus. Sarah was permitted to do what she has been capable of all along....to use her determination and courage to finish MCM.

 

Sarah ran a solid race. Oh, it wasn’t easy. She struggled at times, as she described, but most people struggle to finish a marathon. However, the only time she was in danger of not finishing was in the middle of the race when she “bonked” a bit and experienced dizziness after 14 miles. I don’t know if it was due to a drop in blood sugar level or getting overly chilled when the course turned back into the wind after rounding the Capital. But, a brief stop to put her thermal shirt back on and to consume a gel, a couple of glucose tablets and some isotonic drink pulled her through it. From that point, we started taking a 1-minute walk break every half mile. At the 18-mile point, we passed another lady who was really struggling. Sarah told her, “Keep going. You can do it!” That’s when I was certain that Sarah was going to be OK.

 

We reached the bridge with 25 minutes to spare and were never were in danger of not making the 2:15 PM cutoff. I gave Sarah an option of running over the bridge or walking over it to savor every moment of beating the damn thing. She chose to walk most of the way over it and run the rest. Then, it was just a matter of making our way to the finish line.....and we could have walked all the way, if necessary. But it wasn’t necessary. We continued our walk breaks until the 25 mile marker and ran the rest of the way.

 

I can’t describe how thrilling it was to run the last 1.2 miles to the finish line with Sarah. The crowd support was wonderful, despite being 6 hours after the race started. We saw several Bridgestormers near the end. DaveP and Mikey at the bottom of the final hill leading to the Iwo Jima Memorial a half mile from the finish. Then, Billy and Jussara Fanstone and Elizabeth and Jim Engel halfway up the hill. I got choked up a couple of times as we made our way up the hill and around the Memorial. Finally, the finish line came into view. Sarah took my hand and led me into a final sprint over the last few yards and we crossed the finish line together. And it was over....a 2-year quest was ended.

 

Striving to complete the MCM with Sarah has been part of my life for two years. Now that it’s over, I have mixed feelings. Certainly, I’m very happy for Sarah and proud of her. She never gave up, even when she had good, personal reasons to do so. She worked hard for her victory and she deserves it. However, I am also a bit sad because I know that we will not run another marathon together. I’ve started 10 MCM’s and finished 8 of them. But, these last three have been special. I have gained and learned a lot running them with Sarah