We did it!! Richard and I can now say that we have completed a half marathon! And we did it in less than 2 hours! Sunday, February 13th, 2011
Richard: 1 hour 59 minutes 16 seconds
Michelle: 1 hour 59 minutes 19 seconds
We had the help and encouragement of my cousin's husband, Aaron. Aaron has run several marathons and was planning on running the Mercedes Marathon. He had an injury a couple of weeks before the race and had to change to running the half marathon instead of the full marathon, so he was able to run with us. We got up early on Sunday morning at about 5AM. We made the trip to Birmingham, where about 7,000 other runners were getting ready for the race. We lined up at the starting line, where I began to get very anxious! I had this anxious, excited feeling that is truly hard to explain. They shot the starting gun and we were off. We ran the first 5-6 miles at a faster pace than we were used to running due to the excitement. We got settled in and pushed through the rest of the race. When we reached mile 12, we realized that we might actually be able to finish this thing in less than 2 hours. At 12.5 miles, we stepped it up a notch and headed toward the finish line. Richard really stepped it up a notch and sprinted to the line. I couldn't let him beat me by too much, so I started sprinting too. My parents, my brother and his wife and Aaron's wife and kids were all waiting for us after the race. Overall, the race was a great experience and we are so proud of ourselves for sticking to the training schedule and getting through the race! Maybe there will be more to come in the future!!
