Spectator? WHAT!!!???
I'm not going to lie to you, these were the first thoughts running through my mind when I realized I couldn't run the Sugarloaf Marathon due to my hip injury. I struggled with the idea. Not run? Couldn't I just (for lack of a better term) suck it up and push through? Probably. Instead I decided to play it smart (shocking, I know), follow the doctor and physical therapist's orders, and sit this one out.
So what was my second thought??? To cheer on my running mates, of course! Amy, Kristy and Emilie were running the marathon (with Pam, Andrea, Morgan and several others running the 15K) so Christine (who was also not running) and I decided to do course support. We gathered our cowbells and poster board and set out to be the best spectators ever. Having run these long distanes ourselves, we knew that the louder and funnier we could be, the happier we would make our friends...and everyone else running that day.
We held our signs high, blared music from the car, and shook our cowbells till we had ringing in our ears. Here's a glimpse into our somewhat warped sense of humor. Luckily the posters elicited quite a few laughs, which is what you need when your running 26.2 miles in 70 - 80 degree weather...
In addition, Christine and I decided to modify our shirts just a bit, to reflect our road crew duties...
I have to say I had a blast being a spectator. I refilled camelbak's, handed out pretzels and bananas if desired, and hopefully provided a few words of encouragement to get them through the race. I think I may just have to do it again sometime!
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| Pre-marathon bliss with Amy, Emilie and Kristy |
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| Did I mention that Christne ended up running the last 13 miles with Kristy? Talk about audience participation! What you can't see very well is that Christine's shirt has gone from "you kick asphalt" to "she kicks asphalt". Yes, we take our course support duties seriously! |
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| Amy slowing it down so I can take a snapshot! |
