Finished State #14 at the Mercedes-Benz Marathon in Alabama!

This past Sunday I made the trip to Birmingham to complete the Mercedes-Benz Marathon in Alabama, and it was a great day!

The day started out a little bit rainy, but warmer than it had been in the south for the week prior to to marathon, which was awesome.  It was about 50 degrees with some rain on and off for the first hour or so, which was great weather for a marathon.  This marathon didn't really go by fast or slow for me, I just kind of plugged along.  I had made a huge change in my life this winter in moving to a new state, and so my training was not quite perfect, and so I just took it nice and easy.  Of course with the rain, I kept my trusty garbage bag with me to help stay dry through the 26.2 miles!

One of the things that I love (and I've mentioned in other posts), is how my cause leads me to meet people along the 26.2 miles and tell my story, and hear other stories.  On the back of my singlet, I always have my 50 States Challenge and my State #, and so even if it's just a quick thumbs up, or a longer discussion about the challenge, it's a great way to keep my cause with me in my running.

For this particular marathon, it was a double loop and so after the half marathoners split off to finish, the runners spread out and I spent a great deal of time thinking about those who I am running for - memories of my Gram and Pop (and what they would think of me running all these marathons, especially in the rain!), my Dad, my family,  my teammates on Tedy's Team, and everyone that has supported me.  Everyone has given me such inspiration, and with the rain and sore legs towards the end, I just thought about how lucky I am to be able to run for this cause.

I don't think there was a particularly difficult point during the race.  I started to pick out some familiar faces in the crowd even though I didn't know anyone cheering, because it loops back through the center of town a few times, and so I started to recognize people cheering!  One of my favorite parts of marathon running is interacting with the crowd, and even though the crowd wasn't huge, they were certainly fun!

When I finally reached the finish line, it felt great!  And who couldn't love a Mercedes-Benz medal?? And a nice added bonus was that we received a finisher's beach towel at the end too!  That is my first marathon beach towel, and I will be sure to use it, especially now that I'm living in the south!

So all and all it was an awesome day!  I was so excited after finishing, that I decided to add another marathon into my schedule, and so now I am getting ready for State #15 at the Run Hard Columbia Marathon in SC on 3/7/15, and then I will complete State #16 at the Publix Georgia Marathon on 3/22/15!

And what about the fundraising??  My goal is to reach a total of $4000 for this season before the VT City Marathon in May, so that I can surpass $15,000 for my full 50 States Challenge total!  If you would like to support the fight against stroke, you can visit my fundraising page by clicking on the images at the top right of my blog!

Onto South Carolina!

Race Highlights:
Nice rolling hills (some are a little long, but not bad)
The course loops in and out of town, so good for spectators!
Great support, fun crowd
Awesome medal and finisher beach towel!
 
#1 Song that got me through a tough patch:
Heaven is a Place on Earth - Belinda Carlisle