Congratulations to everyone who participated today!
I am not sure where to begin. Between the beautiful weather, the beautiful scenery, the excitement of the crowd, and what appeared to be the flawless execution of an inaugural event I would say it was pretty close to perfect. As exciting as it was to be part of the happy and anxious crowd waiting for the green flag to tell us the last of the half-marathon participants had cleared the 5k course and that we could begin, it was hard for the photog in me to see the amazing site of the crowd of half-marathoners beginning their journey and not be there to capture it with my camera. It was a breathtaking scene. I am sure there are pictures out there from my vantage point from the top of the hill looking down at the Olio Bridge; I will post one if I come across it! Please send me one if you have it.
Coming in 266th of 1029 females at an 11:03 average I crossed the finish line 34:16 minutes after I started. I DID IT! I know those are not terribly impressive numbers for all you true athletes, and they are numbers I am anxious to beat, but from where I was 5 months ago this is really something that I am proud of.
I thought the course was beautiful and challenging. It’s funny, but those hills in Cambridge are not nearly as intimidating while viewing them from your windshield! (I can’t wait to hear from my friend Bob Jule about how he conquered the mountain that is Courageous Drive in Feather Cove!) I probably would have been smart to have run the course before today since I didn’t find it to be as easy for me as I thought it would be. All of my training has been based on relatively flat land/treadmills, but regardless, it was empowering to push myself up those hills and not slow down to a walk even though I considered it several times. What was my motivation? Well, first and foremost of course was the personal satisfaction of completing the course without walking, BUT ALSO (and this is kind of funny to me….) Kevin called last night to wish me luck and to let me know that he would be “somewhere” along the course to offer encouragement, so any thought of slowing to a walk was completely out of the question, I just knew that the second I stopped running that I would run into Kevin!!!! That was NOT going to happen so I pushed on.
Speaking of Kevin, let me just say that he has been really great with helping me achieve my fitness goals. He met with me religiously 3x per week since mid January for weight training sessions that were vital to what I was trying to achieve. Together we worked very hard and efficiently. I didn’t end up loosing as much weight as I had wanted, (only 20 pounds, but that certainly was not Kevin’s fault) but it isn’t like this is over. I will continue with my new routine and constantly strive to make healthier choices in general. THANK YOU KEVIN!
To Tom Britt and family, the Board of Directors, Sponsors, the many volunteers, and people along the route encouraging participants onward….
To John, Nicole, Mom, and my atGeist friends for their encouragement.
To Nate and Alyssa for putting up with Mom leaving to“go running AGAIN”
To Stewart Fitness Training and Cardinal Fitness….
Many Thanks.
Nik – I couldn’t have done this without you!
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May 18, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Tom Britt
hey brenda, GREAT JOB!!!! I remember the look in your eyes about 5 months ago when we were talking about this. Now look at you! What an achievement! How did your son do? I caught the video of you crossing the finish line (posting today on GeistTV.com) and you looked like you could have gone further (of course, I only saw the finish line, you could have passed out for all I know after you walked out of view of the camera). Maybe next year you can tackle the half???? ; )
May 19, 2008 at 7:41 pm
BrendaStaples
Hi Tom. Thanks! It was such a great experience!
Thanks for asking about my son. He had to go out of town and couldn’t run with me:( Actually my whole family unexpectedly had to go out of town and of course that would usually include me but there was no way I was going to miss that race. Not after all this hard work! Althought it was a bummer not having them at the finish line.
No I did not pass out after I was off camera, but I had thought about it a few times at about 2.5 miles (did I mention that I was sick that day? yes, really)
I saw the video. How cool is that?? I can’t get over what a first class event this has been. I have submitted my e-mail address for notification once registration has opened for next year! I haven’t decided yet if I want to tackle the half or dramatically increase my time on the 5k I am thinking half. Either way, I am in!
Sweet.