Twin Cities Marathon 2007

It's coming up on 10pm on Sunday, October 7th and as far as I've heard thus far, Gunther and Lisa/Tim/Anne were the sole finishers from our original group. I feel like putting "CONGRATULATIONS!" in print isn't enough to celebrate what you guys accomplished. Maybe if I added on a couple more exclamation points. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

If I've missed any achievements, please let me know! The only people I saw that I knew were the aforementioned finishers plus Corina. If anyone ever deserved acknowledgement for fighting through pain and, um, stomach issues, it's her. Not only did she make a valiant attempt in the marathon, but she worked afterwards!

Susan, Rich, Cathy? I've yet to hear where everyone ended up, but anyone who crossed that starting line is A-OK with me. Maria put in as much training and effort as anyone, and unfortunately it was her hard work that did her in. Leg troubles struck her and I and thus we were relegated to the cheering sections.

I stood under the Greenway on Dean Parkway then biked over to Lake Harriett where I ran for about 100 yards with the threesome before realizing I was getting in the way of people who'd actually run 7.5 miles already. Wishing them luck, I rejoined the spectators, then headed for my car to drive to St Paul for the finish. (By the way, less than five minutes after my little jaunt, Corina made her way past. That's how close everybody was.)

(Clicking on the pictures should blow them up to full size)

"Yea Gunther!!!! Keep going buddy!!!"

Keep in mind we're only at about mile 4. Sometimes I forget that I have a voice that, when projected strongly, can cancel out any noise in the surrounding area (this includes crying children, helicopters and other spectators).

Yep, missed 'em

There's Anne in the green (nice shirt...) with Lisa to her right and Tim in front of them. These three ran past so quickly that I never saw them coming until they called to me! Look at that gait!

Who's having fun? Raise your hands!

There's the Zager we know! As they were passing Calhoun, I caught the threesome (their name from here on out). Going strong, Anne is able to catch the eye of the two guys, yet all of the women alongside her remain unaffected by her enthusiasm. Tim's head is barely visible behind the tall guy, as he's making his way over to me. Lisa: cruising along - soccer game yesterday, marathon today, no problem. It's at this point that I had no doubt these 3 would be crossing that finish line in 21 miles.

Gunther, approaching mile marker 26

In his attempt to qualify for the Boston Marathon, he left the vast majority of runners in his wake. Really, go back to the first picture and look at all the people on his heels. Where are they now? The course was empty until he came through, blazing trails for those behind him. Not pictured: the guy who, just short of the crosswalk, collapsed and writhed on the ground in pain while his body cramped up in the heat and humidity. Although the crowd was still quite sparse, when said runner got to his feet and limped past, everyone erupted in encouragement. Witnessing hundreds of people so strongly supporting another human in trouble was pretty intense.

His next beer is on me!

For some reason, I busted up laughing when I looked at this picture when I got home. Gunther is busting his butt to a 3:17 finish and here I am, yelling, "GUNTHER!!! KEEP GOING BUDDY!!!!" For the uninitiated, following extreme physical exertion, it takes a couple minutes to get your bearings and acknowledge those communicating with you. In real time, he looked at me like I was crazy. It always amuses me when marathon runners look at supporters like we're the ones who are a bit odd. You just ran 26 miles! I hung out, took pictures and met friends.

There he goes.

One of the highlights of my day? "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" Wait, what was that?

Ah yes, of course. Think I didn't laugh at that? You're wrong.

Ok, 26 miles done, a quarter mile to go. Everyone's struggling, right? Not my team:

Look at these three! Rockin' like Dokken! All it takes is a little bad luck and runners would be limping past, heck, some even walked by holding their shoes, feet bleeding, yet determined to make it to that finish line. These three scoffed at the course and said, "I own you". They were smiling as they ran by! If seeing their enjoyment isn't inspiration isn't enough, I don't know what is.

Congratulations not only to everyone who finished, but to those spent every day of the past 6+ months thinking of and training for this race. We all did everything we could to complete this race and even for those of us who didn't finish it, I'd like to believe we all enjoyed ourselves and learned something from the experience. Way to go, team.