Gene ran his first marathon in Chicago on 10/10/10. He also raised $3,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I am so proud of him! We, amazingly and sadly enough, have three friends with blood cancer, so the race was run in honor of them.
Originally, when Gene told me he wanted to run this particular marathon I reminded him that we would have a newborn and that he would be running solo. He had read a lot about the excitement and crowd support in Chicago and really wanted his first marathon to be special, so he was willing to go solo. However, after baby boy was born I realized that I might be able to handle the trip. So I decided to just take the plunge and go for it. I really thought I would regret missing it if I didn't go.
Although the trip was in fact very tiring, I am so very happy that I went. KK went to her grandparents, but Tyler is nursing too frequently to leave behind so he came along. He turned out to be extremely portable. Feedings while being out and about were the main challenge. Other than that he was very happy to be transported around the City in his stroller.
As a spectator, the marathon was amazing. I have never been so excited to watch a sporting event. I was able to hook up with friends-of-friends, Suzy and Glen, who were watching their son race and they were so terrific to me. They had a full route planned out, and they helped me get the stroller on and off the trains. I was even able to feed the baby in their car at our second stop! I got to see the marathon at the start, middle, and in Chinatown at the 21 mile point. This never would have happened without Suzy and Glen's help. It was so exciting to see 36,000 people all running 26.2 miles! The elite runners were like gazelles - how can anyone on earth run that long at less-than-5 minute miles?! Blows the mind... At the start, it was just crazy to see wall to wall runners for over 45 minutes. There were cheering crowds lining the entire race, bands, Elvis, huge Chinese dragon heads... you name it.
It turned out to be a very hot day which makes me even more proud of my hubby. He performed so well considering it was his first marathon and it was sweltering. His own email to some runner buddies speaks best for his perspective so I will post that in my next blog.
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