Marathon Man

So, I mentioned before that my brother Matt is nutso. That he is one of the most driven, high-energy people I know. As an 18-year-old. Well, the other weekend he ran his first marathon!! As an 18-year-old. I'm pretty proud of him, because a marathon is a crazy hard thing to do.

I mean, you don't just wake up one morning and say to yourself, "hmm, I think I'll run a marathon, what about next Saturday?" Cause its 26.2 miles, people. 26.2!!! (And don't you dare leave out the "point two" in front of a marathon runner- scary things will happen to those who try!).

It takes weeks, months, of training- running at least 5 miles a day, doing 18-mile runs once a week. No, running a marathon is not for the weak-hearted.

So, I am pretty proud of him.

My mom, Abby and I went down to Boone, NC to cheer him on. This particular marathon was not a very spectator-friendly one- the runners ran along a mountain road (and when I say mountain, I really mean mountain- many of the runners said this is one of the hardest and hilliest ones they have ever run!!), and you couldn't really drive ahead to cheer for them at milemarkers. So, the only pics I have of Matt are right before the race, at the finish line, and when he was recovering.

And by recovering, I mean limping to the shuttle, almost puking, moaning, eating enough lunch for 3 people......


All ready to go! 30 minutes to race time!!

The start

Go runners go!

Riding the shuttle up to watch the finish

Way to go Matt! He finished so strong! 3 hours, 47 minutes!

And now we start to feel the effects of running for 26.2 miles. uphill.

Just. Need. Water.

No, Mom, I'm alright.

So proud!

After just eating enough lunch for all three of us, Matt is satisfied. And ready for a nap.

And so is Abby!!!