Columbus Marathon 2013 - Spectator Report

I love this picture...the start of the marathon! 

One year ago this weekend I was completing my first full marathon. It was amazing and I still can't believe I did it. I was in the midst of fighting the worst Crohn's flare of my life and had no idea what the next year had in store. I loved running Columbus. I enjoyed every moment of the full marathon and really wanted to return this year to participate in the half. In July, I thought I might be able to do that. I wrote this post about how I had signed up for the half marathon. I was feeling unsure about it, but wanted to push myself to do it.

Busy working on the poster....

But then Crohn's had other plans for me once again. I got really sick again in August and decided there was no way I'd be running any distance in October so I dropped out of the race. However, my SIL had signed up with me back in July so she was still going to run it. After spectating in Akron and having such a blast, I decided that I was going to go to Columbus anyway and spectate. And, since my daughter had so much fun and was such an awesome spectator in Akron, I would bring her with me.

Finished product!

It was decided that SIL would bring her daughter as well and we would have a girls weekend. We headed to Columbus Saturday and after picking up SIL's packet at the Expo we checked into the hotel, went to dinner and decorated the poster. We tried to head to bed early since we had to get up early, but it was probably 11 before everyone was asleep.

We got up bright and early at 5AM and after SIL got dressed I could see that the back of her shirt said something. She didn't even put anything on her shirt last year for our first full marathon so I was super curious what it might say. I asked her to show me her shirt and then I started to cry. The front of her shirt says "Never Give Up". I told her that I need to get one of those shirts and she needs to write on the back of it "I am stronger than Crohn's " and we need to wear them to my first race back!

We headed downtown (our hotel was about 8 miles from the city) and really didn't hit any traffic to speak of. We got lucky and immediately found a parking garage that was not full and was quite close to the start/finish lines of the race.

It was COLD so we hung out in the van for a little while before heading down to the start area. This year the security was a little more tight so we were not allowed in the corral area with SIL. We walked her as far as we could and then parted ways to wait for the start. The girls and I decided to find a place right at the start area (as opposed to mile 1 like I had been planning). I texted SIL and another friend I knew was doing the race and told them where to look for me.

On a side note...there were two policemen making me so nervous. They were clearly scanning the crowd looking for anything out of the ordinary. The one guy had this look on his face and obviously saw something that concerned me. I heard him say something about a guy with a backpack. It just made me think and be very aware about what had happened back in April. It made me angry all over again that someone tainted such a wonderful event.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. The girls and I successfully saw SIL and our other friend at the start line. After we saw them pass we started walking to our next spectating spot. Miles 1 and 8 are right by each other and there was a nice church that was open at the same spot. We stopped in the church, got warmed up, made a potty stop and headed out to mile 8 to cheer for the runners. It was SO much fun having a funny sign for the runners to read. So many people commented, laughed, or just smiled at my sign. I truly enjoyed that aspect.

At the start waiting for the race to begin!

We saw SIL...well, actually she saw us and then we moved from that spot. We had to walk about 1.5 miles back to the finish area and she had about 5 miles to go. I figured we had more than enough time, but I didn't want to miss her. When we got close to the finish area we decided to hang out right before mile 13 since it was less crowded. The girls started giving the runners high fives and I think we all enjoyed that. It's so much fun to watch these runners purposely move across the street to high five the kids.

We were waiting and waiting and I swear I was looking intently so that I didn't miss SIL. I saw some of the runners that we had seen around mile 8 and thought she's got to be coming any minute now. We then saw our other friend and I thought it was weird because she was behind SIL at mile 8 (or, I think she was because we didn't see her). I looked at my phone to check the time and saw a text from SIL asking where I was! Somehow we missed her! She was done. It turns out that she was focused at that point and was on the opposite side of the street as us. I was focusing on the side we were on because that's the side she usually runs on. Too funny. I guess I still need to work on my spectating skills!

Another half marathon in the books!

It was a blast. But next year I want to participate in the race. I'd like to RUN it. And I'd like to run it better than I've ever run a half marathon. It's a year away.....and if this year has taught me anything it's that a lot can happen in a year. Right?!?!