Once we got through I was able to take in what was going on around me. I was surprised by many things.  Like the free hot dog meal waiting at the finish line (really? hot dogs?) and the man dressed as Chester the Cheetah. But, it was the people handing out flyers on the course I found truly annoying. They kept pestering us to take their damn advertisements. I was huffing and puffing so badly I was pretty much at death’s door. So, unless they were flyers for grave stones or burial plots they needed to get out of the way.

One of the nice surprises was how many groups were stationed along the path to cheer us on. They had pep squads and dancing ROTC dudes. Miss Floozie, one of the most famous drag queens in Chicago was dressed in a cheerleading uniform. It was kinda awesome.

The run itself was hard. A little over a mile in my back started seizing which was painful. Then my abs started feeling the burn. Aaron was thrilled by this because he said that meant I was “engaged”. Then I realized it probably wasn’t so much my abs as it was my lungs in a state of despair. It was about this time I started to worry that I wouldn’t make it to the finish line. We had passed the first kilometer marker and we were heading to the second. I was shocked we were only at marker two! It felt like we had been running for days. That’s when panic started setting in. I didn’t know how I would make it three more kilometers. Then, as we (finally) came up to it we realized they were marking miles, not kilometers. HALLE-FREAKIN-LUJAH!  We all cheered so loud people thought we were representing the local insane asylum.

In the end, our goal for the race was to finish in an hour. I had done an hour on the treadmill, so I figured it was doable. I didn’t realize that running outside was going to be harder. Most people told me I’d like it better, but no, I think there’s something to being able to monitor every step you take on the machine. I did run in longer spurts in the race though. Prior to this we had been running two minute intervals, and at one point Aaron mentioned I had done a six minute stretch.  In the end, I came in 13 minutes under goal! Yay!

I have to say, the best thing about this entire experience was doing it with my friends. It really is amazing what you can accomplish when you have a great support system. Not only did Robyn, Jenn, Annic, Erin, Aaron and Ed run with me, but my friends Caroline, Marlene, LaVonne, Jeff and baby Bella were waiting at the finish line. It was overwhelming and wonderful.

One of the best moments was at the end. I was with my friends, gulping water and a woman came up to me. She said that watching me run made her believe that one day she too could complete a race. That made it all worth it.