Runners of Steel

We are officially Runners of Steel!  Which means we completed the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon!  There were seven of us from Franciscan running, the group of us who had been training together plus a couple others.  Shelly came to cheer us on, as well as make sure that I didn't die.  (For a few weeks I'd been sick and Saturday was particularly bad.)  Due to staggered starts, (magnetic strips in our race numbers registered at the start and finish to give us an official time) Tommy More, the other girl training with us, and I all got to run together, but Brother Bear and JP started a good while ahead of us.

We started crowded into metal barriers with 5,000 of our closest friends.  As each section ahead of us fed across the starting line, we heard cheers and screams and whistles.  Then we started moving -- walking along the street toward a yellow arch that marked the start of the race.  A few yards back, the crowd around us started running and cheering, as did we.  Then we were crossing the starting line!

The race started off slowly.  We dodged people to pull ahead like annoying and dangerous sports cars on a slow-moving highway.  We wove our way through walkers and then slow runners until well over half-way through the race.  At intervals, bands played, spectator cheered, and volunteers offered us water and Gatorade.  If you have never tried, drinking from a cup is hard while you are running.  I ended up with more Gatorade on my face and shirt than in my mouth at the first fluid station.  

Tommy More kept our time on his phone, so we could monitor as the miles flew by and we knew after the first few that we were on track for our goal.  We found ourselves grateful for the hills in our training as we went up the gentle uphills and soared down the downhill.  At the last mile, we rounded a corner and started downhill.  All descriptions of the end seem cliche and insufficient.  But somehow in the rush of adrenaline and screaming in the last .1 mile of the race, I heard Shelly's voice calling out my name!  Best cheering squad ever!

We ran with joy across the finish line, no more than 10 seconds apart, and under two hours!