Remember the time I ran the Athens Classic Marathon?

Let's talk about the race, shall we? I've been blocking it out for long enough and the suspense is over; I finished and I am still alive.

This is the email that I sent to some friends & family a few hours after the race was over:

When it was pouring down rain at 6am when we got in the bus to go to Marathon, I was slightly - read HIGHLY- discouraged. We had a two hours wait in the rain before the start and took refuge in a burned out apartment building. And the pouring rain didn't stop until at least mile 10. Starting a race like that isn't ideal for sure. True to form I made a few friends along the way - John from Canada who is a Team Diabetes coach ran about 5 or 6 miles with me when we were going up the worst part of the hill, and Melanie from France and I ran/walked the last 5 miles and even finished at the same time.

This lady was next to me at the start line - finding her photo on flickr made me happy.

I also found this video on youtube of a dvd that was made for one of the runners. Please watch before the race starts and notice the shell of an apartment building that they show. This is where Brian, Aaron, and I took refuge in the rain until the race started at 9am. And it gives you a good idea of what I went through that day. Granted, whoever this video was made for finished quite a bit sooner than I did, but it is worth the watch.

When I ran past my friends to go cross the finish line, they were not expecting me, so here's the only photo of me anywhere close to the finish line. ha!

This is a photo of me with Melanie, the girl I finished with. We definitely needed each other those last few miles. I will always remember her for sure and be grateful that she was there when I needed her.

And since the pace car followed me for about 10 miles of the race, Uzi thought it was only appropriate that I get a photo in front of it, showing everyone what 10 miles of the race looked like for me.

And did you doubt that I became friends with the guy? When he first started following me, I would yell back at him "Stop following me!" And he would yell things back like "Hurry up! What's your problem?!" And I would say "I'm trying to run a marathon here!" When I saw him at the finish line, I ran up to the car to tell him I finished and seemed very happy for me. I like to think that he was proud. :)

Aaron & Brian finished at around 4 hours. It was Brian's 3rd marathon and Aaron's 1st. Way to go, guys!

All in all, I'm glad that I ran it. I'm also glad that it is over.