Oak Island Marathon

 My friend Christine got me into running and somehow 6 months after we began running I was running a marathon.  Christine has rumatoid arthritis and at one point in her life they thought she would be crippled as walking hurt her a lot.  Since she began running a couple of years ago, she has gotten so much better and she wanted to run a marathon in February to celebrate 10 years since her diagnosis.  Since we ran our long runs for half marathon training, I told her I would run her long runs with her so she didn't have to go alone.  Before I knew it, I was registered for her marathon with her!  I have to be honest, I was so scared!  The training took so much time and Christine and I got to be very close.  She ended up being one of my best friends.  

It was freezing cold and rained really hard (notice me wearing capris...I had this advice from someone and I was cursing her name through the marathon :). We still had so much fun and were able to run a really consistent marathon.  We laughed and sang and had a good time despite the unfortunate weather. 

 I was pretty excited to run this marathon that was right next to the ocean and we ran post this lighthouse.  

 My family was such a huge support.  I am not sure why I didn't get a picture with my parents.  They flew in to be with me and my kids all came too.  They would show up at different times and cheer as I ran past, or they would drive by cheering.  They made it so fun!

 These kids were troopers.  It was raining and cold and they were happy and so supportive!

 We did it!  And earned the hugest medals to prove it :)

 My boys were pretty impressed with the medal!

 McKay had to do a little photoshoot with it.  

I ended up being 4th in my age group.  We ran the marathon in 4 hours and 52 minutes.  We were pretty happy about it!