I ran the rock

I have dreamt of running the White Rock Marathon for over 17 years. It's been my dream ever since I watched Dad run the White Rock Marathon back in the early 90's. We would go out to the course and cheer him on along the way. I remember seeing him smile when he'd see us early on, and I remember seeing the pain take over his body in the later miles. I knew as a little kid what he was doing was incredible. I knew it didn't come easy. And I knew I wanted to be just like dad and run the marathon too one day.

My turn to run the rock started back in July when Andrea and I decided to sign up and start our training. I can't imagine training those five months without her. We held each other to the schedule, we complained when it sucked, we celebrated when we hit milestones, and we shared this common goal that we would eventually achieve together.

Then all of a sudden the day we'd looked forward to had arrived. There we were on the start line. Then the gun went off. It was go time. We were lucky to have a fairly large fan club on the course cheering us on. Mom, Dad, Kyle, Ricky and Stephenie came out and jumped from spot to spot. So did Preston, Alejandro, Lyndsay, Brian and Rachel. Mara was at the finish line and Andrew was in downtown. A great crew of support. I saw the fam several times around White Rock Lake. And I saw Preston and company several times towards the end. You wouldn't believe the boost of energy it gives you to see friends and family.

Our training program peaked at 22 miles. Dad had coached me through the training, making suggestions and helping me adapt when I needed to. And, on Saturday night, Dad revealed one last little secret, one that was best kept until the night before. It was a revelation I didn't need to know until then. He said, the second half of the race starts at 22. That couldn't have been more true. Thankfully, at mile 21 Kyle jumped on the course with me and took me home. At this point I was really hurting. Several times in those last 5 miles we would stop and Kyle would massage my calves and hamstrings because they were on the verge of cramping. My finish time wasn't what I'd hoped it would be, but I finished and it felt incredible. Then I saw Dad and I cried. I finally had an understanding of what he'd done and why he did it. And that felt even better.

Thank you to everyone who was there with me along the way. You will always be a part of this awesome memory. And, don't worry, you'll still finding me running. Because when you love it, you love it.