Wow! After working toward and anticipating Saturday, October 20th for the past 8 weeks it's difficult to believe that it has already happened. This was a personal victory for me in so many ways. I recognize that this day would not have happened without the support and love of my family and friends. I've been on cloud nine every since I crossed the finish line. Thank you for coming here to this blog to share the experience with me.
I signed in and picked up my race day packet. My bib number was 30 as you can see. Behind the number is the race T-shirt. Steve Brayton will recognize the color as calf scower yellow but I like to think of it as mustard.
It's difficult to see but this lists my name and bib number.
A "chip" attached to my sneaker. This is the first year that the organizers of this race used chip timing. When I ran across the finish line this little chip sent a unique signal that basically said, "Number 30 has crossed the finish line!" This was an easy way for race organizers to record the finish times of all the runners.
Quilt Costume
The race organizers encouraged participants to wear costumes. This quilt costume was made by Sam. Mark tied the quilt. It wasn't an award winner but it meant a lot to me. You may wonder why the words and smiley face are on the back. My thought, going into the race, was that anyone who was running slower than me needed all the encouragement they could get.
The winning men's costume was a guy dressed up as Groucho Marx, complete with cigar and suit coat. A woman dressed as a refrigerator won a prize as well as a couple dressed up as green eggs and ham.
This is my personal cheering section (Sam is taking the picture]). Everyone wore their yellow T-shirts from our Brayton Family Half Marathon (held in July).
Mom Brayton had her OSHA shirt (That's an entire story all by itself. OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration).
Having my family there meant the world to me. Toward the end of the race I rounded a corner approaching the final mile which included a hill right before the finish line. Up ahead I saw a mass of yellow and I knew my family was there waiting to cheer me on. I started to get choked up. I almost cried.
This part of the story is one of my favorites. The night before the race I prayed that I would be able to find someone to run with. Someone I could talk with as we ran. (Krystal, you spoiled me!) Running is much more enjoyable with a running buddy.
I met Phyllis while we were waiting for a last minute bathroom break just before the start of the race. We found that our typical running pace was similar. She liked the idea of running together as much as I did.
As we talked I found out that Phyllis had decided the night before the race she wanted to run a 10K on Saturday. She searched on-line and found "The Great Pumpkin Challenge". She came without a cheering section so we cheered for her too.
I felt very blessed to have my prayer answered so splendidly. The 4 1/2 miles that we ran together was relaxing and fun. Time seemed to pass without my notice.
Quite the crowd! Phyllis and I are toward the back (just a dot in this picture). We had the impression that our start time would be recorded (because of the chips on our shoes) as we crossed under the starting line. Later we found out that such was not the case. When a siren signaled the start of the race a man used his cell phone to call the guy at the finish line telling him to start the timer. It took Phyllis and I approximately 28 seconds to reach the starting line. I was a little bummed by this but the run was organized to raise money for a cause so there is no point in getting upset about it.
Here I come! At this point in the race Phyllis had dropped behind due to the hills. I was reluctant to leave her behind but I could tell that she was breathing hard. She probably wanted to stop and walk to bring her heart rate down.
Just before this picture was taken I rounded a corner and spotted my yellow clad family waiting on the sidelines to cheer and encourage me on to the finish.
This shot shows some of the pretty fall colors we enjoyed during the race. It was a fabulous Autumn day in New York. There was some cloud cover which kept things cooler for the runners.
I'm just a blur!!!! When I reached my family, Mark ran along side me for a few seconds and gave me some Gatorade.
Here is the finish line. The lady with the long dark hair (foreground) is a race volunteer worker. She cheerfully answered our questions and gave me some much needed encouragement as I approached the finish. Sam used the video tape function on our camera to record my "sprint" across the finish line so I don't have a picture of that for you.
My official time (according to the timer on top of the Finish sign) was 58 minutes 39 seconds. My pace was 9 minutes 27 seconds per mile.
Phyllis finished two minutes after me. She won first place for her age group. We were both pleased with our finish times, and grateful to have the encouragement and companionship of one another.
The name of the race printed on the front of the T-shirt.
THE END!
