This photo was taken right past the 2 mile marker. It was my first time to see my family and friends since the start line. Rafa was so excited to see me and chased me down the road! Haha! Such a cute puppy!
I saw them next around mile 6. They were lined up along the road waving their signs to all the runners and apparently an older man (60 or 70) who was running looked at Lucas and said: 'Yes they do'!!!
My dad working all the cameras! The Beer @ the Finish Line sign got the most comments. At one stop they left the sign in the car and several of the runners who had seen them at all the previous stops were asking where the beer sign was. Apparently that was the best motivating factor of the race!!!
Look at little Rafa riding shotgun in the chase vehicle!
Here - just before mile 10 - my friends Chris and Aida joined in. It was great to see 'Team Ashley' growing! :)
Here I am at halfway - still feeling great!! After I passed through the team was packing up to leave and apparently a woman ran through halfway and was shaking and couldn't run anymore. Chris and Aida took her in their car to meet up with her sister nearby. That would be really upsetting to run so far and not finish. Hopefully she is feeling better.
This stop was just before the 18th mile marker (which I thought was the 19th). I stopped to take off my pants but couldn't bend my knees. Ouch! So mom had to help by pulling the pants off around my shoes. Thank goodness Brandon was there to capture this moment. Ha!
A few quick sips of Gatorade and a couple of bites of banana and I was on my way.
I guess he was worried after the whole not-being-able-to-bend-my-knees thing and Lucas joined me here just after mile marker 20.
And here we approach mile 22. I'm just slowly putting one foot in front of the other....
Thankfully, Lucas was there to help!
And now... I could finally see the light. I was so excited to cross this point and know that the next time I saw Team Ashley I'd be crossing the finish line.
As you'll remember from my last post, Beth and Linda joined Lucas and I at mile 25 to run the last mile. Here we are at the break off point. They broke right and I broke left to run the final distance to the finish line!
I round the corner and the announcer calls my name: "And now approaching the finish line is Ashley Linares from Huntsville, Alabama. This is Ashley's FIRST marathon! Way to go, Ashley!" See... it pays to finish by yourself and not in a big group. Yea!
I'm so excited here! I don't even have the words to tell you!
(my favorite marathon photo)Thanks to Brandon for today's marathon photos!
1 comment:
I am bookmarking this to keep coming back to it. I like the play by play, and I am feeling less intimidated and more motivated today. I heard mile 18 is the hardest.
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