The first weekend in December our family traveled to Memphis, TN, for the annual marathon that benefits St. Jude Children's Hospital. Josh and a buddy of his, Beaux, had been training for months for this marathon. This was Beaux's third time to run in the marathon and this year he did the entire 26 miles. WOW! Josh did the half marathon, 13.1 miles, but has already said that he thinks he can do the full marathon next year. That man just amazes me! I don't know if I could run 2 miles, let alone 13.1 miles, and there's no way I can even wrap my mind around running 26 miles!
Josh does want me to participate more next year and run the 5K. I told him that we'll just see. I'd love to be a runner-mostly because I think all the running gear is cool and I'd like to get some new running shoes-but I don't know if I'm the running type of girl. I was when I first met Josh, but that was only because I thought he was cute and running was how I got to spend time with him. He ran every night at college, so I started running every night, too. I'm glad I didn't kill myself during those months, but eventually my hard work paid off, we got married, and I haven't run a single mile, 1/2 mile, 1/4 mile since. I guess I'll reevaluate my future hobby as a runner next year when the race looms a little closer than now.
Back to the race weekend....
17,000 people signed up to participate in the race event this year! Can you believe that? How awesome is it that that many people are coming out to support St. Jude's? There were several ways that you could participate; they had a 5K, the half-marathon, the full marathon, and the Family Fun Run. Eli and I did the Family Fun Run this year! It was only a mile and I knew he could handle being in the stroller for that short a time.
We stayed in Southaven, MS, because all the hotels in Memphis were booked solid, so the day of the race we had to get up REALLY EARLY in order to make it to the race on time and to make sure we got a parking spot. We left our hotel at 6:00 am and drove about 20-25 minutes to Memphis. Parking spots were already starting to fill up, so I'm glad we got there as early as we did. We found a parking spot, got Eli situated in the stroller, and headed to the spot where Josh would start his race.
It was quite chilly, but thankfully, Mrs. Debra and Mr. Marty bought this athletic outfit for Eli for his birthday and it was PERFECT for this weekend. It was fleece-lined and because of that he stayed toasty warm the entire day :) Thanks!
Here's our attempt at a family picture. Eli was quite intrigued that his Mama was wearing a hat, which I never do.
Look at all those people! There were 13 groups for the marathon/half-marathon and each group started at a different time.
This was the last picture I got of my two boys before Josh had to go find his group. Beaux, his wife, Beth, and Josh were all going to start together in one of the last groups. Josh said this was a learning experience and that next year they'll move up to a different group that runs a little faster. Beth was going to run the half-marathon with Josh, and Beaux was going to go the entire 26 miles. WOW!
While we were waiting for Josh's group to start, Eli decided it was time to check the tires on his stroller. Good planning on his part, because you certainly wouldn't want a flat tire when it came time for the Family Fun Run.
I guess the buckles on his stroller needed a to be looked at, too. We wouldn't want a certain little boy to fall out during his run.
There they are! Eli was so happy when we finally spotted Daddy. He kept saying, "Dare(There) my Daddy! Dare MY Daddy!" We clapped and cheered for Daddy, Beaux and Beth and then watched them go get ready for the start of their race.
Josh and his group started 25 minutes after the first group started. He thought it would take him a little under 3 hours to run the race, so for the next 3 hours, Eli and I toured downtown Memphis while we waited for Daddy.
Our first stop was to watch the runners race by on Third Street. These were some of the runners in the first groups.
Then we watched the runners running down Beale Street.
Then we decided we both needed some refreshments, so we went to Starbucks. Eli enjoyed a chocolate milk, I had a gingerbread latte, and we shared a raspberry scone.
Across the street from Starbucks was the FedEx Forum. Before we had Eli, Josh and I went to Memphis on a trip to learn how to be barbecue judges. No, seriously, we did! We had to sit in classes for two days and even take a test. We've judged a couple of contests since then and it's all because of the trip we took to Memphis way back when. Anyway, Josh and I had some time to kill one afternoon in between our barbecue classes and we went to the FedEx Forum and goofed around. Now we have a little guy to goof around with us :)
We went back to the car because NOTHING was open other than bars and Starbucks. What's a girl to do with a 2 year old for 3 hours when NOTHING is open? More importantly, how do you have 17,000 people in your city and not have ANYTHING open? It blew my mind. We went back to the car so I could change Eli and so we could rest, but before we made it there we passed the Peabody Place, which was closed, and also saw some more runners. Way to go, people!
Ideally, it would have been nice if Eli had napped, but that didn't happen, so around 10:30 we headed to AutoZone Park so we could watch Daddy finish the race. We got there with little time to spare!
I loved seeing all the fans filling up the stadium waiting for their loved ones to cross the finish line. People were so supportive!
We found the Finish Line and positioned ourselves right above it so we could watch Josh cross. It wasn't long before we heard the announcer call out Daddy's name over the loudspeaker and we cheered and yelled for him. He had finished!
While we were waiting for Daddy to come meet us, Eli decided to try to wear himself out some more by running up and down the long hill. I was getting ants at this point because we still had the Family Fun Run and I knew it wouldn't be fun if he was extremely tired.
We met Josh outside by the gates and Eli was so proud to see the medal his daddy had received for running 13.1 miles. Way to go, Josh!!
Of course, Eli had to try it on :)
One day maybe both my boys can run the half marathon or the marathon TOGETHER! How special would that be?
We rested for a little bit after Josh's race and then Eli and I got ready for the Family Fun Run. Just as I had predicted, he was very tired at this point, but I knew if I could get him to hold on for just a few more minutes, he'd have a medal and we could go back to the hotel.
I tried my best to entertain him, but at one point before the race this is what I saw. This was because he wanted to get out and walk on his own, which I knew wouldn't be a good idea because of how many people there were around. Plus, I didn't know what to do with the stroller either if he did that.
Luckily, there were some huge mascot characters around that took his mind off wanting to get out and before we knew it the race started!
Eli cheered up and we completed the race really quickly :) Next year, if he goes with us and we do this race again, he'll get to walk it by himself :)
We walked back to the car and headed back to the hotel. Whew! It'd been a long morning, especially for Josh and Eli, but we'd made it. We grabbed something quick to eat and then we all went back to the hotel and crashed. We'll see you again next year, Memphis!
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