One Man Race

In mid December, Phil ran a marathon. He decided during the summer that it was a goal that he wanted to acheive and put his mind to it and did it. Being the frugal people that we are, he didn't want to pay to run in a race and figured he could just chart out his own course and do is own race. He started training mid summer and things went great until a few months before the planned marathon day (well...he did have some issues prior to this but getting actual running shoes fixed that problem!...that was one corner he couldn't cut when it came to money). He had some issues with his calves cramping up on him. He kept putting off the date but finally set it for December 11th and raced from Marana up to about Picacho Peak. The actual race went much better than he could have asked for. In the first two miles his calves started to cramp which worried him immensely but he was able to alter his stride so that they didn't give him any more problems. I was able to be his water/snack girl through the race. I would drive ahead every 2-3 miles and wait for him to meet me, set up station, cheer him on, and then drive ahead a few more miles. My parents were able to watch James so we didn't have to deal with keeping him happy which was marvelous. Phil's parents and sister and her husband (Janette and Brian) sent him off at the starting line and Janette and Brian were able cheer him on during the race and celebrate at the finish line with us (Thanks to everyone for their help/love/support...it was huge!). Phil used Janette's GPS watch so he could calculate the exact distance he had gone and also her IPOD which allowed him to listen to 4 hours worth of conference! Janette joined him running around mile 23-25 and then at the finish line, we unrolled some toilet paper for him to cross which actually ended up being a little before 26.2 so he had to keep running! :)...we had gone by our odometers and the GPS wasn't quite there so we miscalculated.

Phil is pretty amazing and quite the example of reaching a goal when setting his mind to it. I was so proud of him and love him so much! Great job, babe!

Getting Ready

Part of his fan club

On the road again...

Ready for some water and nourishment

Getting close...

And, the finish line...even though he had to keep running!

The post race shot with McRae taking place of James since he was MIA