A Monumental Experience

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"Are you going to go watch them?" Mark asked. "Do you want to go down?

I looked at Mark and shrugged.

"I thought about it but, you know ..."

"You should," he said. "You trained with them. You ran the miles. You should celebrate the race with them."

 

And so I did. Well, we did.

On Saturday, we loaded up the kids and headed down to Indianapolis (a two-hour drive from Fort Wayne) to cheer on my friends running the Monumental Marathon. I had hoped to make some awesome signs and toss Nuun packets at fellow runners but after a long week*, we settled on smiles and lots of enthusiasm.

I decided, after looking at the course map, that we would go to the half point, around Broad Ripple, and then head to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, around 18 or 19. The locations, according to a drive and cheer map, were easy to reach via car, and it also allowed us to leave fairly late – 7 a.m. But, more importantly, we were able to see them at points in the marathon where the excitement has worn off and things can start to hurt.

But, call me a proud mama, but I have to say it: my girls looked good out there. G-O-O-D. If they were hurting, they didn't show it.

Both times, Karen came over to kiss the baby and say hi, looking as if she were just on a regular training run. But that's Karen. She makes running look fun and effortless. Also, she's a gazelle. And kissing Si makes you bounce because he's that cute.

And, each time, it made my heart so happy that I could share the experience with them. We ran against the wind, in the early morning hours, around floods and in the heat. Those miles were for that day.

And that day. Ah. I do have to say that they had the most perfect day for a marathon. The high was in the mid-50s and the sky was clear. Indianapolis is just far enough south that there were still leaves on the trees. The spots where we were at on the course, too, were gorgeous and interesting. I couldn't have been happier for them, especially as earlier in the week they were anticipating high winds and rain.

I've spectated a few races and, on occasion will head out to big group training runs, to pass out candy and cheer on my friends. Nothing, though, compared to this. There's just something so awesome about the marathon and the running community surrounding that made me giddy. It was like I had a runner's high without even jogging a step.

It was a feeling that I couldn't shake all day on Saturday. One I still can't shake. One that says run a marathon.

Run MONUMENTAL*.

Just because – my favorite photo from the day

* Note: I might have also had too many martinis on Friday night and was not able to form a catchy phrase much less write one on posterboard.

*I've been fairly firm that I wouldn't run a marathon next year as that's a huge commitment for not just me but my family. However, I got the bug and so I'm no longer ruling one out but I'm not registering either. Like a fine wine, these things need some air.