Ironic... Umbrella was one of the songs that played on my iPod during my 7.2 mile run through the POURING down rain 2 Sundays ago. It made me smile. Actually I smiled the entire time I was running. While it was definitely less-than-desirable weather, I was well-prepared for the run & so happy to be doing this with my family. They are troupers. They did this because I asked them to do it with me and I love them very much for getting out there inspite of the rain!
Bob & I spent the night at the Sheraton Downtown so we'd be close to the race. The hotel was only a few blocks to the start line & right across the street from the Metro Link station I would need to get to my relay point. Our hotel room window, however, did not face out into the street. We had a view of the hotel atrium. Therefore, we didn't know what kind of weather awaited us until we went outside. Bob was our first runner, so he left our room by 6:30am to walk to the start line... the race began at 7am. I stayed in bed & tried to sleep a bit more, as I hadn't slept hardly at all the night before. Nerves I guess. At 7:15am my dad called me from his car laughing. Said he was going to wait in his car until he absolutely had to get out... it was pouring down rain. I almost started to cry just thinking about Bob already out there running for the past 15 minutes (almost 2 miles at that point). I turned on the news & they were talking about how hard it was raining for the the race going on. They showed a shot of the Arch & you could barely see it.
Bob came back to the room before I had to leave, completely drenched.
My family & I participated in the St Louis Marathon (26.2 miles) as a relay team. Bob ran first (6.25 miles), then he tagged my dad (who ran 6 miles), my dad tagged my sister (who ran 6.75 miles)...
and then I ran last leg (7.2 miles)...
The BEST part of the race was that at the end, they got to jump in with me and run the last .2 miles so we could all cross the finish line together...
We were all yelling & cheering & high-fiving each other. It was quite a celebration...
We all wore matching DKM shirts (that my sister had made through the apparel company where she works) + my sister & I wore matching running skirts. Unfortunately I had my shirt covered to keep an extra layer on me so I could fare well in the rain. In hindsight, I should've worn my long-sleeve under my short-sleeved DKM shirt, but I remained optimistic that surely the rain would stop & I'd be so hot that I'd have to remove it during my run. Nope. Didn't happen.
I am so proud of our performance. Our team goal was to finish the race in less than 4 hours and our time was 3:57:05 (our actual chip time... not the clock time above)! Sheesh, was I drenched though. It felt really good to take a hot shower afterward.
Such a fun & inspiring day. My family is the best.
Winners never quit and quitters never win...