I finished!!! I am so grateful for the opportunity to participate in such a beautiful and spectacular event. I once again was honored and proud to wear the Team McGraw colors and run with the passion and compassion of my fellow teammates and friends. The weather was beautiful, although a bit warm, and the city of Chicago is simply beautiful! The lake, parks, art, architecture, museums, flowers, trees and people all brought forth a sense of welcome and serenity to me. I absolutely want to return and spend more time in this place.
I cannot fully describe the sense of oneness as we gathered Saturday evening for the pre-race dinner and the sharing of our stories of why we are running. I am always touched deeply in my soul as I hear the love and the pain poured out from the hearts of each person. Truly, a sacred time, a time to remember our loved ones who have fought the hard fight and have gained the ultimate gift. A time to honor those who are in the battle every day and continue to encourage and inspire. A time to dig deep into our own pain and individual journeys and find the courage to live on despite our losses and our heartache. And a time to inspire, encourage and comfort one another. Additionally, as a team, we raised over $25K for the Tug McGraw Foundation. Pretty darn amazing!
The morning of the race for me, was and is always such an incredibly different day than any other. I wake with a sense of awe, a sense that something life changing will take place on this day. I feel as if I am in the presence of those we honored the night before and connected with every runner on a very spiritual level. I cannot fully explain the feeling as it transcends words. I am not just running a marathon, I am grieving, healing, honoring and, although I cannot begin to know the extent, I am changing the world!
We gathered together in the hotel lobby at 5:45 a.m. and are joined by ultra-marathon runner and author Marshall Ulrich who also donned a Team McGraw shirt! I was both honored to meet him and to share with one another of our healing from great loss through running. After the team picture, I am given a gift from Katie; prayer beads that had been given to her to help her through the loss of her beautiful friend Jenny. I am moved to tears as I feel the love of this gift and the continued connection of what I was already feeling.Lynn provides a special prayer for me…I feel so honored and so loved! I started the race with Katie and Heather on each side of me and more prayer. The gifts continue!
As I’m running, I’m finding it difficult to find a good rhythm. I am trying to just go with it, but I am beginning to get distracted and start to worry about my time….my competitive side and my ego is having its say. As Katie peeled off to support her husband Jason in his first marathon, Heather continued running with me for 12 miles. At that point I was running by myself and struggling a bit. At 14 miles, my quad started cramping. At first I tried to just ignore it, then I stretched, but it was not going to stop. I decided to visit the medical tent before being taken out fully. Thanks to the lady who massaged my leg! It hurt so good! After the good rub down and a few Tylenol, I was able to continue running, but not for long as the cramping came back. Two things happened at that point. First, I found that I could run again after walking for a bit. So I found a pace that allowed for running about a half mile at a time combined with a bit of walking to allow the cramping to subside. Secondly, this pace shutdown my ego and its quest for a good finish time. After all, I was not there for a great finish time and from that point on I saw the event through eyes of awareness. I felt my serenity return, I saw the people who lined the streets and encouraged and cheered (Chicago people are amazing). I saw the runners and I was so inspired by those I saw; young, old, some with great physical limitations, all running with different gaits and different strides one step at a time toward the finish. I saw a beauty that changed me. I was refreshed and renewed and working toward the finish with a such an awareness of life.
I saw Jeff and Kevin at mile 21. Jeff joined me for a bit for some pictures, sports beans, encouragement and a couple of laughs! Heather found me again at mile 22 and I was honored to finished out the last 4 miles with her by my side. As we turned the corner for the last 300M, Lynn was there to cheer us to the finish! Yes!!! The finish was amazing as there were so many people there to cheer each runner! I am truly reveling in each step, each word of encouragement! Heather and I finished hand in hand and I couldn’t help but succumb to the emotions I was feeling at that moment…Beautiful, simply beautiful!
I am so grateful for this experience. I never in my craziest thoughts could have imagined that at 54 years of age I would be running a marathon in Chicago, let alone, run 3 half and 2 full marathons in less than a year and a half. Not one day has gone by without me thinking of Christy. I thank her for the love and encouragement she gave me while she was here with me for 20 years and I thank her for the continued strength, courage and inspiration she continues to give me! Today, I am living and loving life as it is, in this moment and I am so thankful!
Ya Gotta Believe,
Doug