'Cause You Gotta Have Friends

Well, it's official! I booked my flight yesterday - with two friends - so ready or not Hawaii here I come!

I'm very excited. I am thrilled to be traveling with close, fun friends - not doubt the Big Island will never know what hit it. We are extending our stay after the marathon so we can enjoy some of what the Island has to offer as part of my "recovery" from 26.2 miles.

It's amazing how much the support of friends can see you through a marathon. It just so happens that I have been lucky enough to always have a friend or family member on the marathon route cheering me on.

My first marathon I was injured, and my parents were there to cheer me on as well as my sister at the half-way point. But a big surprise came when a friend of mine got my attention just before the 14th Street Bridge of the Marine Corps Marathon (that's about mile 22-24 or so). I was hurting bad and my Gremlin was trying to talk me out of finishing . . . and she was wearing a big smile. I said, "walk with me" and she stepped right onto the road and kept me company to that bitch of a bridge. I might not have made it without her. I'm currently trying to convince her to join in the fun in December as she'll have crossed a finish line of her own by then - her dissertation will be FINISHED and we'll all have to call her Doc. Frankly, I'd rather run a marathon than go through a PhD program!

My second marathon was the one and only "official" DC Marathon. My parents couldn't make it and I thought I was going to have to run it without a friendly face on the course. Just before the finish line I heard somebody shout my name - and there were two dear friends standing on the side arms full of treats for me. I shouted "run with me" and without hesitation they "sprinted" (if you can call it that after I've run 26 miles) to the finish line with me. I was so moved by their presence I cried. Really.

My third marathon was in Richmond and once again my parents were there supporting me along the route. What was extra special was that my mother had cut up some oranges for me, so along the route she was there with the BEST marathon snack available. I had a great first half, but typical of me, I hit the wall around mile 20 and was struggling. I had left my training partner behind me early in the run (he was hurting) and had passed the last place I'd see my folks before the finish line. I still had about 2 miles to go when I heard somebody call my name. It was my fabulous training partner and friend - he had caught up to me and we finished the race together. I have a picture of us crossing the finish line together framed in my room.

My fourth was back with the Marine Corps and once again my folks were there (with oranges!). I didn't expect to see anybody else along the route but as I was reaching the half-way point (and already unhappy and hurting) a friend shouted my name from the side. I looked up and there was a dear friend (and BOB) waving frantically. I ran to give her a hug - she was decked out in jeans and boots - and since she didn't want me to slow down she ran part way UP Capitol Hill in those jeans and boots! Amazing. And I'm so lucky to have her in Hawaii with me!

The last Marine Corps marathon was my worst . . . my training had fallen apart before the race and I wasn't prepared. My training partner was running NY instead so I didn't have him to lean on this time. My folks came anyway . . . with no guarantee I'd finish . . . avec oranges. I had met two women from Toronto at the packet pick-up the night before and we arranged to go to the race together. I was lucky enough to run with them for about the first 16 miles . . . then they disappeared in the crowd ahead of me (they had trained better than I had of course). I was bummed out and once again fighting with my Gremlin when I had to hit hateful Haines Point. Now those that know Haines Point as part of this marathon understand why it's hateful. It is late in the race (miles 18 - 22) and it is a lonely stretch of road. By this point the racers have thinned out and few people bother to cheer you at Haines Point. I was having trouble running when ahead of me I saw a familiar "gait" - my now housemate had come out to Haines Point to support me with peanut butter and other snacks if memory serves me. She walked with me for a bit, gave me a pep talk, and I headed to that bitch of a bridge again still no longer fighting my Gremlin, just fatigue. As I hit the beginning of the bridge who's waiting for me but my training partner! He said, "I thought you might be having a hard time here so I came to run you in." Well, though I couldn't run the whole way (in fact, I could run very little of the last six miles - ugh) he stayed right with me and kept pushing me. The Marines forced him to leave the course at the Iwo Jima hill (the last .2 are UPHILL) but because of this great friend I FINISHED.

So I am now training for yet another marathon . . . and I am once again blown away by the support my friends have shown me: some are volunteering for me, some are contributing what little money they can, some are running with me, some are helping me throw a fund-raising party, and some are going all the way to Hawaii to cheer me on.

They are all going the distance with me.

'Cause you gotta have friends.