Cleveland Marathon cheering and a college reunion

All I have to say to those that ran the Cleveland Marathon this weekend: Yowzas, you're brave. This heat was killer.

I was up in Cleveland anyway because I have a newborn niece and the reunion of Daily Kent Stater employees at Kent State University all happened to fall on the same weekend. So I was home but not really home -- I was up and running around the entire time.

I'll get to the reunion in a second, but to stay on topic, first: The marathon. Cleveland is a big one, so I wanted to make sure the runners I knew could see me. So I got a bright green posterboard, a bright green backpack and Mr. Fox in Socks.

The posterboard turned into this... 15 names in total on the sign, and turns out I forgot a few:

Note to self: Next time, don't skimp on the magic markers: My hands were covered in cheap ink by the time we left!

My fellow pace coach Richard B. was also in town to cheer so we met up and headed to Tremont, a really  cool town with lots of shade. We tried to catch our runners at Mile 9.5 but the crowds were so thick that we missed quite a few. We yelled after Deb M. but I don't know if she saw us. A very peppy Michele H. bounced over and gave us high fives. The 10:30 coaches Randy and Jill breezed by, I had no idea they were running! I saw a long lost friend from high school run past, my sister's sister-in-law looking strong in her first half, and college friend Kali, who blogs here.

Runners in Tremont.

This part of the race was fun. There was good crowd support and the temperature wasn't too bad. When we saw our last person, we headed over to Mile 22 on St. Clair and E. 55th street. Here, things were different.

Race report: Flying Pig weekend

The Flying Pig Marathon was hands down the best event I have ever done. I ran for 5 hours, 21 minutes and 7 seconds and genuinely loved every second of it. (Separate blog post with more photos.)

Thinking back to how miserable I was the last 8 miles of the Columbus Marathon, trying to make a time goal, I wonder if slowing down and stopping to smell the roses (literally, Rebecca E. stopped and made me smell some pink ones), is the best way to go.

To bad I have too much of a competitive spirit!

This weekend was a whirlwind. I'll just whiz through the early details so I can get to the super-fun stuff. Woke up at 5 a.m. Saturday. Headed to downtown Columbus to see the MITers off for the Capital City Half Marathon. Had a blast standing on a freeway overpass for several hours ringing a cowbell, jumping up and down and yelling at the many, many members of my running groups competing. The incredibly awesome Sara W. cheered with me. She blogs here.  

Me and Sara

Sat in a Tim Hortons sipping tea for an hour -- as quiet of a moment as I was going to get that weekend. Met up with Brandie D. and Rebecca and headed out of town. Got stuck in traffic for an hour because of an Obama rally. Finally got out of the car on I-270 to stretch our legs. Saw cars moving up ahead. Screamed. Waved our arms. Ran back to the car. Many engines behind us revved up as a result.

Ick! Traffic.

Finally made it to Cincy. Found parking. Went to expo. Spent too much money at expo. Bought some yummy dried fruit snacks and some Flying Pig gear at 50 percent off. Loaded up on free samples of laundry soap, wrinkle reliever and undereye cream. Since Mr. Obama held us up we were there as they were closing and trying to get rid of stuff.

Loot

Went to Arnold's Bar and Grill for dinner with other members of Run DMC. Got some yummy gluten free pasta with portabellas and a bottle of Woodchuck cider. Made it to the hotel by 10 and crashed almost instantly.  

Run DMC after dinner

Our alarms went off at 4:30 a.m. We dragged ourselves out of bed, got ready and walked a good mile in the dark to the starting line. When I woke up I was petrified, but as we were walking across the bridge that separates Kentucky from Ohio, we heard "Born to Run" over the loudspeakers and saw crowds of people pouring in from every direction as the sun rose. The fear was gone, now we're just excited. We dropped our bags and got in the corral.

Brandie and I, up bright and early.

I loved, loved, loved this course. I wish I had brought a camera so I could document some of the things we saw. The course was windy, curvy and hilly. Around every turn there was something new, a mascot, someone in a funny costume, cute kids cheering, zombies, drunk people, a band, a DJ, people with hoses to cool us off. The miles just flew by.