Running Spectator

On Sunday, I drove up to Lowell to watch my running partners, Nancy and Leslie run the Bay State Marathon.  This is known as a fast course and it was for both my friends!!!  The night before, I made posters...

I got up to the race at about 9ish, hoping to catch the girls at Mile 8.  Unfortunately, I wasted too much time on the wrong side of the race- I was at Mile 8 for the Half Marathon.  When I finally figured out where I was, I quickly raced over to get to the half-marathon mark.  And I saw my friends pretty quickly coming through the half at 1:55!!! 1:55!!! Holy SHIWR#$T$! That's fast! They were all smiles as I ran with them for a few and annoyed them by snapping photos...

Then I drove ahead to Mile 17 and jumped in with them again! Nancy was still so strong and so happy.  Leslie looked amazing too! I love this photo below!

After that, I went ahead to Mile 20.  By then, Leslie had faded back and they were each on their own. I ran with Nancy first and annoyed the hell out of her by taking several photos...

At this point, she was like, enough Liz!  Haha.  Nancy was still strong and was starting to count down.  10K, 5 more miles, 4 more, 3 more... She kept talking about how she was 5 minutes under (under the 4 hour barrier) and feeling good.

I then went back to Leslie and she was still friendly as ever even though I could tell she wasn't that happy.  But I knew she would PR by a LOT.  Her previous best time was mid 4:20s and she was now on pace to run around 4 hours.

 

I drove up to Mile 23 and saw the girls one more time before driving up to Mile 25 to help Nancy bring it home...

I met up with Nance at Mile 25 and told her I was going to keep her on pace to break 4 hours.  Truth be told, she ABSOLUTELY did not need me AT ALL.  Even if she walked for 5 minutes, she would have broke 4 hours.

It was really fun to run with Nancy and gossip about dumb stuff while trying to get it out of her brain that she just ran 25 miles. Below is Nancy at the finish line.  I only had my phone at that point, so the picture isn't very clear.  But the finish is inside a stadium which is kinda cool.  Nancy ended up finishing the marathon in 3:55.  Absolutely amazing.  It has been her goal for a long time to break 4 hours; her previous PR was 4:10. This was Nancy's 12th marathon and it shows that with dedication and focus, you can do anything.  I am so so proud of Nancy for finishing well under her goal time.  It was seriously impressive and I was so happy to be there! Nancy finished 15 minutes faster than she did in NY last year.

Leslie ended up finishing in 4:03 which is a twenty minute PR.  They both showed me so much about staying focused and positive during a marathon and I really am starting to get excited about my upcoming race. Great work Nancy and Leslie!!!!!!!!

Also, I don't have any photos- by my old college roomie Lindsay also broke 4 hours at the Long Beach Marathon.  She also went out in 1:55 and held on to finish in 3:58.  So proud of you Lindsay!

I'm REALLY nervous about running my marathon alone (since I kinda hate running solo) so if there is anyone out there running NY looking to finish around 4:15 or come through the half at 2:05, please reach out to me! I don't care if we run 1 mile or 20, I would just love to run with someone!