On Friday, we left around 10:00 AM headed to Memphis for our 5th annual St. Jude Marathon/Half Marathon weekend. Our first stop was the physical therapist's office, for Jimmy to have therapy on his injured knee. He was hoping for an "all clear" to run, but sadly, he was just unable to run this marathon. Mark prescribed several strengthening exercises for Jimmy, and hopefully, his knee will cooperate for him to run the Goofy Challenge (a half and a full marathon in two days) at Disneyworld in less than 6 weeks.
As usual, the two days were full of fun, food, and fellowship. We have established a few traditions for the St. Jude weekend. We usually stop at Target or Costco on our way into town. Then we attend the race expo to pick up our race bib and t-shirt. We usually spend a couple of hours at the expo visiting with friends and looking at what the vendors have to offer.
Our next tradition is eating at the Spaghetti Warehouse. We had a party of about 30 people, and thankfully, they seated us in a back room at two long tables. Megan, Russ, and Millie Janalee joined us, and everyone wanted a turn to hold Millie Janalee. This was the first time for most of my friends to meet her!
After supper, Leah and Sam went home with Aunt Megan for the night. They had a super fun slumber party, and you can read all about it by clicking here. Our family, along with Lynn's family and two other friends and their children all stayed in a different hotel this year. We had a relaxing evening of visiting and playing games in the hotel lobby. Very low key. Jimmy spent the evening debating whether or not he would run anyway, AMA (against medical advice). He was so tempted! How difficult it is to be an injured runner when everyone around you is excitedly preparing for the big race! Julie was unable to run too. It was a sad couple of days for both of them, but they made the best of it by cheering all of us on, and Jimmy documented the entire two days with tons of pictures!
Here are some pictures from race day. They uploaded in no particular order.....
Clay, after the race.
Clay set a PR in this race, 1:51.
Lynn and I, posing after the race.
That's us in the middle with the pink hats on.
Our finishing time was 2:22. We were very pleased with that time. It is nowhere near our fastest, but not our slowest either. We just treated this as a training run for our Disney marathon. We had planned to run 5 or 6 miles before the race, but instead opted to visit with everyone in the hotel lobby. Good decision!
Clay, receiving his finishers medal.
Julie, Alec, Me, and Lynn--around mile 2.
Before the race
Clay and Parker before the race
One of many group photos before the race
This photo features Clay, Parker, Olivia, and Catherine--in the middle of the picture.
Running friends--the fast ones are on the outside! Heather and Esther are Jimmy's running buddies. I am sure they missed his running with them as much as he missed it!
On the right are Michelle and Kim--the fast walkers! They walked the half marathon, and they did a super job!
Heather and Olivia before the race
Scott, Heather's husband, in the middle--waving.
This was Scott's first half marathon. In fact, this day featured several firsts for Scott:
First time to run more than 7 miles.
First time to wear his new running shoes.
First time to wear his running shorts.
He did great!! He finished way before Lynn and me!
just another group photo!
Jimmy, Julie, and a few other Spartans who had parents running the race waited here for everyone to pass--this was around mile 2, and they cheered and took pictures. It was so nice to see them on the race course.
Our cheering squad and their signs
one last group photo.
Amber, Julie, Me, Lynn.
After the race, we ate a late lunch at Huey's (another tradition). Megan brought Leah and Sam to us, and then we headed home. Well, actually, we went to Corinth for the Christmas parade, and then we headed home.
A fun weekend!
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