Twin City Marathon Weekend

Sarah and I went to the marathon expo on Saturday afternoon. 

Sarah picked up her paperwork and found a new t-shirt and tights for running. 

Are we ready?

Then early (very early) Sunday morning:
ONE FOR THE MONEY, 
TWO FOR THE SHOW, 
Shoes before the race!

THREE TO GET READY, 

AND FOUR TO GO

Sarah is anxious at 6:30 am, but ready to go.  "Let's get this done!"

THE RACE BEGINS!

 The runners - here they come

 And there they go!

Waiting for Sarah!

We saw Sarah at the 5 mile mark and promised to meet her at the 9.  

But the traffic in Minneapolis was horrible.  There were lots of family and friends cheering on the runners so we headed to the 10 mile mark. There we received this message on my phone: "Update: SARAH H passed the 13.1 mark in 02:19:35.  At this pace we predict she will be at the 18.6 mile mark around 11:15:29."

We missed her.  She's at 13 miles and we are still at 10 miles.

We raced back to our car and Bill drove fast and furiously to the 22 mile mark on Summit Avenue.  Yes, we did see her there.  She was looking good.  I snapped a bunch of photos;  I was in record mode instead of camera mode and nothing turned out.

It was time to head to the finish line at the State Capitol and cheer for Sarah as she entered the chute.  We missed her again and received this message on my phone during the drive to the capitol:
"Update: SARAH H finished at 12:58:27.  She has an unofficial time of 04:57:27."
We were still on University Ave in traffic and far away from the the finish line.  I had my cell phone but I also had Sarah's cell phone!  So much for a congratulations call or finding her in the crowd.

We arrived over 30 minutes after Sarah.  She was with friends on the grounds at the corporate tent but I didn't know that.  Fortunately, she called me on someone else's phone which I called and left a message. She retrieved her phone and went back to celebrate.

Picture time, without Sarah.  Bill and I are enjoying the cold but sunny weather in St Paul while we wait to take Sarah home.

Here is happy Sarah with her new medal:  New PR for Sarah - under 5 hours.  Official time came in at 04:50:00 for 26.2 miles.  Congratulations to Sarah.

Best photo of all - happy and home to relax after her accomplishment.