everywhere. Does that tell you how much I loved this event?!
Saturday we get to the expo. Jo Jo sees my RM hat, runs up to Nasim and me, and hugs the stuffing out of us!!! Then we meet Mr Bond and we end up chatting for about 15 minutes. I know already this is going to be a great weekend!
Sunday morning we get to Copps about 90 minutes before race start. Already there is a sea of orange there. We meet Irongirl and TracyW, Doonst and Holymoly, Tortoise and Mike Runs, La and Trixiee, etc etc. This day is getting better by the minute!
Race starts and we are running at a 3h30m pace with about eight Maniacs. There is orange from one side of the road to the other.
Ran most of the first 15k with Nasim, Holymoly, and Amber-Leigh. We did 10&1s the entire race, and I watched the clock so everyone else could just focus on keeping their feet moving and having as much fun as possible.
At 15k we traded in Amber-Leigh for a_beacher, and we were off running again. By this time we had also picked up a couple non-Maniacs who seemed to think we were having a lot of fun (we were) and liked the pace we were setting.
The four of us (Nasim, Ania, Annette, and I) ran together until about 23k, when Holymoly had to back off a bit. but we had already shared a few cheers of "2* k and I FEEL GREAT" at the top of our lungs so between that and her magic spud, Ania was doing fine!
At the end of the day, I crossed the finish line holding non-Maniac Katherine's hand with Nasim holding her other hand. It was the first time she (Katherine) had ever run more than 23k in her entire life and we helped her through the toughest Ks. It was very inspiring to us to be a part of such an awesome day for someone who was utterly thrilled with her time and crossing the finish line. She was very emotional talking about how this would help show her two daughters that anything is possible. Very, very cool!
So in the end, chip time was 3h23m18s. Don't really care though. The real reason I loved this race and this experience was it reminded me what RM and being a Maniac is all about - having fun, celebrating together, sharing each other's joy and pain, embracing life, and taking each other's hands and feeling the strength and power and determination that can get us through anything in life.
Things I will remember forever:
- running start to finish with Nasim, my very special friend
- getting to run with so many Maniacs and having so many laughs together
- Cattitude and her Tigger costume, with the best RM spirit ever! (I so wanted to stop and give a hug, but alas I was pacing people at that point, so I just laughed and thanked her!)
- pacing Amber-Leigh, Ania, and Annette for so much of the race and having so much fun together cheering, laughing, petting puppies, and soaking in every drop of the experience
- crossing the finish line with someone I had never met before and getting a huge thank-you hug
- seeing Ania at the finish area and getting another super hug
- the utter generosity and friendship of Lightning, Mr Lightning, and Dierdree for putting together and hosting the after party (THANK YOU!!!!!!!)
- meeting so many Maniacs for the first time (everyone mentioned above, plus dgrant, QuickChick, solo running chick, bebette, Lightning, BaldGuy, Robbie-T, and many others I haven't even mentioned yet)
- *** meeting Maniacs face-to-face for the first time and talking and having fun together like we were old friends who have known each other for years ***
I want to thank all of you for making this such an amazing experience for me! It was the most fun race I have ever run. Special mention goes to those I ran most or all of the race with - Ania, Amber-Leigh, Annette, and Nasim. This will be a race I will never forget!
