a quick glimpse of yesterday.

So, it was trickier to pick up my race number yesterday than I thought it would be....I really wanted to run.  But...seeing these three primed and ready to go made me smile:

One of them crossed the finish line with a PR of 2:04 and the other two came in first and second in their age bracket.  A good day, I'd say.

Thanks God for safe travels, for the ability to cheer, yell and encourage many runners and for these three who rocked the All Women and One Lucky Guy Half Marathon yesterday!

PS. So after a very late night last night, the above is all that I had time for before heading in to work this  morning.  There were so many other pretty amazing moments yesterday that I had to revisit this post.
In the midst of the race adventures there were car problems.  Yet kind souls helped get my dad to an auto parts store and other kind folks helped him repair the car, and yet other kind souls helped transport stuff and wait with my dad until AAA arrived.  Too many amazing moments experienced through those unexpected (albeit frustrating) moments.

And so, there we were, a dozen of us waiting at the finish line....we our crowd got louder and louder as our two approached the finish line.  We cheered as they crossed the line - finishing first and second in their age bracket.  We smiled as they were awarded hats, gloves and chocolate for their age bracket accomplishments!

We were also at the finish line as the last woman crossed.  A few of us had cheered her on at the 10 mile mark...and here she came for the finish.  We cheered and clapped and she finished.

As my fiance got her significant other's email (to share photos) he said this was a tough race for her, but it was a new PR.  It just goes to show you, that each runner runs her own race.  I hesitated sharing this story about her because I don't know her and I definitely don't know her running story.  I don't know her history, her training, what drives her to run and train and what motivates her to keep taking one step after the other.  I do know this...that she completed a half marathon yesterday with a new record.  She set out to accomplish a task and she completed it.  I'm thankful that a group of us were there to cheer her across the finish line, but truth be told, as much as we could muster for her, she lifted each of us up.  She brought tears to our eyes when we learned that she set a personal record.

I thought about her a lot today....and prayed for days of rest and recovery....may she have many days of rest in the joy of a personal accomplishment.