Lakefront Marathon (relay)

What a weekend! Saturday was cool but the sun made it feel a little warmer than it really was. The weather forecast for Sunday was appearing dicey. Cool morning, cloudy and chance of showers...yuck. Its one thing if its 70s and rain but another if its 50s and rain.
Thankfully, the weather held up for all of us. It was cold along the lake but we were spared the rain until later in the day. By then we were grubbing down at the Cheesecake Factory!
At the start of the marathon (relay) it was sunshine, virtually no wind and temps around 50. Following some speeches, the gun went off. We were on our way! Everyone had their goals: Mikey wanted to break the 3 hour mark, Julie was shooting for her 3 hours and 30 minutes and I was hoping to run my 7 mile leg in the timeframe of 49 minutes (this would happen on one heck of a great day!) to 53 minutes (more realistic).
Given the fact that Mom and Dad and Brian were following all of us, I figured I would first see them at the transition area of Concordia University. I was pleasantly surprised to see them at the 5 mile mark...hopefully I looked strong at this point!
I hadn't peeked at my watch to see what my times were but they were calling out splits at each mile mark. I am terrible at math so me trying to crunch the numbers would have been a little too distracting for me while running. Did I ever mention that I don't chew gum and run because of the fact that I am not that coordinated?! :)
Ok, back on track...
I was heading down the final stretch of Lake Dr, nearing the transition area. Almost done!!! I spot Erin who's ready to pull the ankle bracelet with the chip off my leg and strap it to hers. She was off and running. Julie came is pretty much right after I made it thru the transition area. As always, she had her big beautiful smile beaming across her face. Fortunately, Brian spotted me right after that and we high-tailed it to my car which was parked about a half mile away. Poor Brian was trying to keep up with me. You see, he was toting Julie's gear bag which I think she packed everything she owned into. I did ask him if he wanted me to grab anything but he declined. I was freaking out because Erin hadn't met any of the other girls on the team so I wanted to be at the next transition to point her out to Kimberly. I was feeling bad because we didn't find Mom or Dad at Concordia but had no time to waste searching for them. And worse yet, Mom had my cell phone so I couldn't call her nor my other team mates to update them on the elapsed race time. At this point, I was thinking the run was a piece of cake and all this going on afterwards was way more stressful. I knew Dad was going to be pissed. Left him a note letting him know that Brian was with me and that we would see them 3.5 miles down the course at the next transition.
Off I raced to mile 10.5. Found a good parking spot and darted off to Virmond Park to find Kimberly. She was easy to spot. Thankfully!
Hung out there while she was stretching out. Waited for Mikey to come thru. He was looking very fresh and fluid. Saw a few other friends who were running. Spotted Erin easily. She and Kimberly exchanged the timing chip and off Kimberly flew.
Sidenote, Kimberly is training for Ironman Florida so she was going to run her leg and then run back to Virmond Park to get some long miles in.
We waited there for Julie to come thru. She wasn't too far behind Erin. Where does Julie get her energy and endurance??? Sheesh!
Dad found us here and as I figured, he wasn't too happy. He's not a very patient guy and it was really wearing on him. He calmed down after this point.
I had contemplated trying to catch Mikey at another location prior to the next transition area which was at roughly mile 19 but I worried that we would miss him or get caught up in traffic congestion.
Off we went to mile 19. Parked the car and chatted with some friends who were volunteering at this aid station. Kept an eye out for Kat, our team mate running the last leg. I didn't spot her so I started freaking out a little. I was hoping she was out and about for a warm up. The lead guys came thru as did Ted's relay member. More and more people trickled thru. Some girl relay runners...could they be an all girls team, competition? If so, they had a HUGE lead! Dang!
I found Kat. A huge sigh of relief:)
And there was Mikey. Still making it look easy.
After some time, Kimberly rounded the corner. She was looking strong. Kat pulled the bracelet off her ankle and was tearing it up. From this point, Erin and I went downtown to find a parking spot. We were following Ted as he was driving faster than I have ever seen him drive. Parked, grabbed a few things and hustled down to the finish area. Just as Erin and I were nearing the finish shute, they were announcing Mikey's name. I checked my watch and he finished under 2 hour and 51 minutes! Crushing his personal best time by more than 10 MINUTES! Holy crap!!!!
We spotted him in the finish area. Talked with him a bit and then I went out to find Kat. While doing so, I saw more friends who were finishing. Its always at this point that I wish that I were running the full marathon. But that thought is very short lived as I think back to how I was feeling after my 7 miles.
Here comes Kat! She hits the shute under 3hours and 9 minutes. Outstanding!!!
Julie finished right around 3 hours and 24 minutes. She's amazing! Just like a machine, always coming in under 3 hours and 30 minutes regardless of where she's at in her training.
I'm so proud of both her and Mikey. They each ran their race and ran it extremely well!
We hung out for the awards.
Mikey finished 17th overall and 4th in his age group. His 1/2 marathon split was 1:24:50 and finish time was 2:50:51 so his first and second halves were virtually the same! His pace as 6:31 minutes a mile. Wow!
I guess that he ran with Dick Beardsley for a little while. That's pretty cool. If you aren't familiar with who this guy is, check out this article that was posted on JSonline Off the Couch. What a story!

http://blogs.jsonline.com/offthecouch/archive/2008/10/03/beardsley-shares-his-wisdom-on-addiction-marathons-and-persistence.aspx

Julie finished 201th overall and 3rd in her age group and 22nd female. Her finish time was 3:24:03 meaning she held a pace of 7:47 minutes a mile.
Our relay team, Team InStep - Four Non Blondes, finished first in the Female Open division with a time of 3:09:49 and our pace was 7:15 minutes a mile. We were the 6th relay team to cross the finish line.
Ted's team, Team InStep, finished 1st overall in teh relays and first in the Male Open division with a time of 2:35:39. Yeah, that's fast with a pace of 5:57 minute miles!
We all walked away with some hardware, which is always great to be rewarded for our efforts.
Here are a couple pictures compliments of Mom.
Next up, Discovery Run 15k on October 25th. Anything else in between is a bonus. Discovery Run is a great race, there's a 5k and a 15k with a finish at the Ale House. Nothing beats a race with unlimited microbrew afterwards...along with the candy corn they have after crossing the finish!