Thursday, April 03, 2008

26.2

My good friend Patricia is running her first marathon this weekend!

I remember this time last year when I was a relatively new runner and decided to sign up for my first half marathon. It was the end of March 2007 and the race was September 30th. I mentioned to Patricia that I had decided to run a half marathon. She looked at me and said, "Okay, I'm going to do it too." I will never forget how casually she said it, as though she was just deciding what to have for lunch. So she started running and I continued running, and we compared tales of our progress every day. Race day came around and we both completed it... but Patricia beat me by 5 minutes!

She has proven to be a natural runner. She runs incredible distances every single weekend, runs much faster than I do and never gets hurt (knock on wood).

She's on her way to New York City at this very moment for the New York Road Runners Women's Only Central Park Marathon taking place this Sunday, April 6th. I'm so proud of her and can't wait to hear all about it.

I bought her a gift in honour of the occasion:



I secretly bought one for myself too, but it'll be tucked away in a safe place until I eventually run the big 26.2.



***UPDATE: April 6, 2008***

Patricia finished her first ever marathon in an incredible 3:55:37!!

4 comments:

Sarah said...

Wow! Good for her! Congratulations will be in order when she returns!

Christy said...

Congrats to your friend! It is very inspirational for sure. Even as i get close to my half though the thought of a full marathon makes me uneasy!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

that's a beautiful necklace... i'm sure you'll be wearing yours soon too :D

IMama said...

Thank you, my dear friend Marlene. If it wasn't for you, I would still sit on my lazy butt ;) Your support and friendship take a great place in my daily and running life :D I will be waiting for you at the finish line with the most respectfully earned 26.2 necklace. Way to go, Marlene!!