Churchill's Half Marathon

We didn't run this race, but Tammy and I showed up in sleepy, little Monclova, Ohio yesterday afternoon after a great message by Pastor Dean on Restoring at church in the morning. It was the most beautiful day of 2009 to date as far as the weather went. It was brisk in the morning and by the time we left church around 10:30 a.m., it was warming nicely by the full blown sunshine on the eastern horizon. The sunrise was spectacular! We didn't have to be to the race till noon so, on our way down, we treated ourselves to a rare breakfast out together at IHop ~ Come hungry ~ Leave happy ~ We did.

We made our way south to Monclova and got to the race just before noon. There was some confusion early on with the coordination of the volunteers and water stations, but we soon had our assignment to man the first water station that would be hit twice due to a turn around in the course. We were paired with two other woman, Mary and Allison, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I had worked with Mary a number of years ago at a local insurance agency she worked for till she and her husband relocated to South Carolina to live on a sailboat. She said they returned about 10 years ago and lived in the area again and she had recently joined the Toledo Roadrunner's just as we had.

The four of us headed to our water station post and were becoming quite anxious as it was about 12:25 and no one had delivered our table, water jugs, and cups yet and the race was beginning at 12:30 and we were less than a couple miles out from the start. Finally, one of the race administrators dropped off our supplies. As I said, it was a glorious day as far as the weather went. My face actually got sunburned!

I had a great time catching up with Mary and meeting and getting to know new fellow Roadrunners, Allison, and Rob, who eventually joined us to assist at our station as well. I also had the pleasure of seeing online running friend and one of my many marathon saving graces, Phil Mishka, at the finish of the race and catch up with him a bit. And, it is always a blessing to me to spend time with Tammy. I get whistful when I see how quickly our girls are growing up and in the knowledge that, all too soon, both of them will be off on their own, but I am also selfishly enjoying the alone time that I get to share more frequently with my beautiful wife. The race was awesome. Serving was awesome. Catching up with Mary and getting to know new running friends was awesome. Spending most of the beautiful day with Tammy was awesome.