My Hero!!!

I just want you all to know how much I love my husband! He is amazing. Because of him I am a better person. I think about others and their needs more often. I have a desire to be more caring, generous, motivated, and beautiful (He thinks I am, so I want to be even more so just for him).

Well, yesterday Kevin ran his first marathon!!!!! He finished the race in about 5 hours and 26 min with a little help from Jane at mile 26. We all flew to Akron, OH for the race. We stayed with my sister, Beth, and her family (thanks again, Beth, Cody, Morgan, and Pepper). It was such a fun long weekend. Ohio is gorgeous. Kevin, Alice, and I woke up early Saturday morning and Alice and I watched as Kevin started off down the road along with the other 11,000 runners in downtown Akron. Like I've said before, I love going to races. They are truly inspiring. Alice and I got to see Kevin again at mile 3 and he was looking and feeling good. Then we met Beth and the rest of the gang for the kid's fun run. Jane, Morgan, and Alice loved it. As soon as I get some pictures from Beth I'll post them. We hung out at the finish line for the kids for a while and watched a live band and had fun. Then we went up to the street and waited for Kevin to run by. We sat at a little cafe and watched all the runners. Then the crowds started to dwindle and Beth decided that the runners still coming needed some inspiration. So we cheered on the rest of the runners at mile 26. (A marathon is 26.2 miles, so they were almost done at that point). Finally we saw Kevin rounding the corner and coming up the street. He was running at that point, but started walking. Then we started screaming and cheering for him. I put Jane on my shoulders and told her to yell for Daddy. As soon as he saw us, he started to run again with a smile on his face. I could tell he was exhausted, but seeing us had given him renewed energy. Jane then ran a 100 yards with him till he rounded the corner and entered the stadium where the finish line was. I almost made it in time to see him cross the finish line, but sprinting with 2 kids, in the rain, up hill, with a double stroller, I can only do so much!! It was great though. Beth loved it. She and Cody said they'd be willing to do a 5k, being inspired by all the runners. It was so fun to see these poor, tired runners, perk up and even smile, as we cheered them on at the finish. How awesome.

I once heard a fireside talk in college about running a marathon. The sister giving the talk spoke about how exhausted she was, but when she saw her family standing at the finish line cheering for her and embracing her, it was all worth it. And she compared it to life. I always thought, I want that. Ok, so I'm not motivated (yet) to run a race, but I'm so grateful that I can be a part of the cheering section for Kevin. I told Beth as we stood there cheering on all the runners, "If I think about this too much, I'll cry." She agreed.

Thank you Kevin for giving me the chance to cheer you on and for doing such an amazing job on your marathon. I'm so proud of you. I know you are still sore and tired, but it feels good. I love you! You are my hero!