Country Music Marathon

Congratulations to Jimmy and Olivia!!

In Nashville on Saturday, Jimmy completed his first full marathon, and Olivia completed her second half-marathon. I am so proud of both of them!

Jimmy and Olivia BEFORE the marathon/half marathon

Olivia and Jimmy AFTER their races!

Our whole family traveled to Nashville for the weekend to give support to Jimmy and Olivia.

Julie, Clay, Leah, Sam, and I were onhand to cheer Olivia as she approached her finish line--well, I actually DID NOT see her! She was running with so many people (22,749 runners), that I missed seeing her! Clay and Julie were on the opposite side of the street, and they saw her, and Olivia said that she saw me with my camera in my hand, but I did not see her, and so I do not have a picture of her during the race.

Olivia with her half marathon medal. She finished 5th place in her age group!!

We found her soon after she finished, and she was exhausted! The temperature was very hot for a race---it got up to at least 85! In addition to the heat, the race course was tough because of the many hills. Olivia reported that very little of the course was flat; it was either uphill or down. After she had rested a little while in the shade, we all moved to the marathon finish line area and began waiting for Jimmy. By this time Sam was asleep in my arms, so I gave the camera to Julie. We all watched for Jimmy, and we made friends with a couple of ladies standing beside us. They helped us watch for him. There were 3900 marathon runners, so it wasn't quite as difficult to find Jimmy.

All of our hearts just burst with pride and tears were shed as we spotted Jimmy, rounding the curve just a tenth of a mile from the finish line! 26.2 miles!! Wow!! What an enormous accomplishment! Jimmy trained many, many miles and many, many hours for this goal. I am so proud of him and his dedication and determination.

Way to go Jimmy!

Here are some pictures from the weekend.....

Sam, fishing in the grass! Jimmy bought Sam this CARS fishing pole the day before we left for Nashville. He carried it around and "fished" everywhere we went all weekend long!

patiently waiting for Olivia to cross the finish line

Crossing the bride over the Cumberland River to get to the finish line at LP Field

Posing with the "Y" from a YCMA booth at the expo the day before the race. Runners must attend the expo to pick up their race packet which includes their race number, chip for their shoe, a race t shirt, and various coupons and other items.

eating breakfast before going to the race.