This is my first fall in Chicago and while I have had friends run the Chicago Marathon in the past, I had no idea what a big deal it was. The streets were lines for the entire race with spectators and cheerers. I have never seen anything like it–tons of people: people with signs, flowers, balloons, cow bells, whistles. People cheering, people hugging, people yelling encouragement to every runner as they ran uphill the last .2 miles. I was walking around with this huge smile on my face. I seriously almost cried 3-4 times watching complete strangers finish this race. I’m a softy as it is but it was just so inspirational. Whether people were running, walking, or crawling past the finish line, everyone was putting a HUGE accomplishment under their belt today. Well done!
Today was Ryan’s first full marathon; he ran the Baltimore half-marathon in 2007. Even with his insanely busy schedule and a trip to Las Vegas, he ran today and did awesome! I AM SO FREAKING PROUD OF HIM! It was so cool to see all the runners finishing and meeting up with their loved ones afterward and I was so happy to be a part of the hugfest myself.
High Five of the Day: Aside from all the awesome runners who rocked out today, the high five of the day goes to the small child holding a sign that said “Run Like You Stole Something”. Seriously, this little girl was like 6. Hilarious.