13.1...

Is how many miles I walked on Saturday with around 18,000 of my closest friends. Well, actually some of those people went the full marathon which is 26.2 miles. One of my goals this year was to participate in the mini. I didn't even care how long it would take. The time limit was 6 hours. So I thought surely I could finish before 6 hrs!

Here I am before the race started. We were about .3 mile away from the start line. It took us about 20 minutes to even cross the start line after they started the race.

I was excited, but also super nervous. I was laughing in that picture, too, because the lady taking our picture was holding the phone the wrong way. I was expecting to see a nice picture of the kind lady from the race trying to take our picture. Bless her heart. :)

I started off really well. I was feeling great. I tried to jog every now and then for short bursts. At some point there was a White Castle where we went to the bathroom. They had port-a-pots on the route but the lines were so long! And at some point, after halfway, I got a cramp in my butt the upper part of my leg. I would try to jog a bit after that but it didn't make it better. So, I decided to slow down and just walk. Just focus on finishing. I saw some really fun characters during the race; a pirate, some vampires, people in tutus, young, old and here are three of my favorites...

They were around mile 10. It was so awesome to see their smiling faces! Along the way I also saw my hubby, my sister-in-law's family and a few friends. I was with my sis-in-law for most of the way. But she is faster than me. So, I was by myself for the last bit. It got really hard at the end. I was starting to get a little teary. My bum was really hurting. I was tired. Then a lady started walking with me the last couple of miles. She was very encouraging. It was great to have some conversation to take my mind off of my aching body that was not too happy with me.

A very happy sight was this sign.

I just know if I was still with Jill I would have cried when I finally crossed that line. But instead, I was not sure where to head after I crossed. I was very concerned to find where they had the food I was told would be waiting for me after the race. (I didn't really think about how hungry I would be after 13.1 miles.)  Oh and to meet back up with the family. I wandered straight ahead where people were handing out the medals. Then I found the food table. I grabbed a bagel, banana and a drink. Finally, I found this pink banner and went to sit near it. Soon everyone came to where I was. I couldn't believe how great I felt after it was over. My official time was 4:00:26. I was still hurting, but I was so proud of myself and Jill. I couldn't stop smiling. We have already started talking about next year. I even think some more of our family will be joining us, too. Thanks to everyone who offered encouragement and prayers for us. :)