Columbus Marathon

I am so thankful to have been able to stay in the house well into the autumn. If we had sold the house immediately, we would have been out already, renting a place or living with friends. Instead, we get to enjoy life in our little village within a stone's throw of downtown Columbus and Ohio State University.
Because we are so close to downtown, the Columbus Marathon runs through the middle of our town. Most years, my friend Sheila and will go walking along the route before the race begins. She has as many deadlines as I do with her husband having back surgery on the same day we close on our house, so I didn't ask if she wanted to walk.
Instead, this morning, I decided to start at our house and run the route backward for about 4 miles.
It can be more challenging than you expect to figure out which way the route goes when not all the roads are closed yet.
Mostly, I relied on judging whether cars were parked along the road. No cars equals Marathon route. Even so, I got confused several times and started down roads before noticing that no banners waved or port-a-potties stood sentry, so I'd turn around and try a different road.
Since I had several false tries, I decided to run 4.5 miles to make sure I reached the total of 8 miles I hoped for. I'm so glad I kept running because I discovered that the marathon is running through a cornfield path.
It's weird in a city of nearly a million people to still have a cornfield in the center, but because Ohio State teaches agriculture, there are cows and cornfields within the city.
I had just run the path through the cornfield last week while waiting for Earl to finish his physical therapy. In the fog, alone, the path is a bit spooky.


But this morning, the sponsor had done a great job making it a highlight of the 26.2 mile race.
These "race car" banners showed runners where to turn.


Then a banner welcomed runners to the field.


Along the way, there were signs with pop culture icons or bad jokes, meant to encourage those reaching the high mileage of the marathon.






The marathon is sponsored by Children's Hospital, so many of the miles are dedicated to children receiving treatment. I started taking pictures of the mile markers and the kids, and got to meet two of the children who had already shown up to support the runners.
Mile 20 was dedicated to Andrew.
He got excited when he saw me and thought the marathoners were already on their way.




Then farther down the road, Amelia had already arrived to cheer for the runners on her dedicated mile.




I ended up running 9 miles, and I was pretty spent by the end, but I'm so happy that I had the opportunity.

#ReadersWorkouts -- Marathon

Joy at Joy's Book Blog has built up a community of people who love to read and work out. You know that I enjoy both of those things, so I'm joining in.

The Columbus Marathon runs in the middle of October each year. Since I'm a runner, I always look forward to it, even though I'm not running it.
I trained for it twice and ran it once.
Like last year on the morning of the Marathon, I got up and went for a run. I ran the marathon route near our house. The streets were nice and wide, empty of parked cars. Banners flapped along the side of the road, letting runners know how much farther they had to go to the finish line.
The mile marker near our house is 22. So I ran it backwards for 2 1/2 miles then turned around and came back for a five-mile run.
The sky was dark as I began and a glowing full moon sat heavy in the sky. Gorgeous.

On the run back, the streets had become a little busier with volunteers setting up tables and pushing giant trash cans into place so the runners could dispose of their water cups.

I texted my running friends pictures of the moon and talked about the preparation for the marathon.
One friend asked if it inspired me to run another marathon.
"No!" I texted back. I remember the pain in all of my joints and my muscles, even as I trained, running 20 miles then 22 miles then 24 miles, plus all the shorter distances in between. I picture myself coming down the stairs at my house, holding onto the banister and the wall as I slowly eased down each step.
Later that morning, on a beautifully sunny, warm day, I walked along the sidewalk, clapping and cheering for the runners.
"Go runners! Keep it up!" I'd yell.
I ran into so many friends and neighbors lining the sidewalks as I walked to the coffee shop. It was like a festival.
In front of the coffee shop, I took a picture of runners making their way down the street. Musicians played all along the route to keep the competitors moving along.

And then, I felt just a twinge, thinking, I could do the marathon again.
Hope your exercising went well this week.