Illinois Marathon - again!

Yeah! Today was the second annual Illinois Marathon, held right here in CU, and I was part of it! (The half marathon, that is, not the full.) So fun! Soooooo tiring.... I have to say that I was NOT in as good shape as I should have been to run this one (three episodes of strep being my biggest excuse), but I'm still glad I did it! I absolutely love running, even though I'm such a slow one...there is just nothing more simple and more satisfying than putting one foot in front of the other with 14,000 other people and another several thousand cheering you on, even though they have no idea who you are. :)

And again, Ethan and Brian were there to cheer me on! They met me in Meadowbrook Park, right around miles 8-10, which is just when I need to stop and get some hugs. I've run the Chicago Marathon, which is amazing (40,000 runners and triple that watching) but I have to say that it was incredibly cool to do this race in a place where my husband and baby are easy to find in the crowd! I pulled off to visit for awhile.


Now compare this boy with last year's marathon boy:
Quite the difference, huh? Wow...