Half Marathon Fun

A friend of ours was signed up to run a half marathon.  She hadn't been training as much as she should have been due to life.  She mentioned casually that I should come meet her and run a little bit with her.  

I was really excited about the race b/c I really enjoy the environment and excitement surrounding the event. The people are happy and positive and excited.  Miss M wanted to go downtown with me b/c she wanted to hang out with her friend.

I woke Miss M up before 6am which is early for the little lady.  We drove downtown to the hotel our friends were staying.  Alex and I walked to the coffee shop and bought the girls breakfast of croissants and orange juice. Miss M was a little leery of the croissant. I explained it was flaky bread and if anyone likes a croissant it should be her. I told her that Poppy loved croissants and she said she was game.  I asked Alex later how the croissant went and found out Miss M put it all away and asked for another! Wait until we give her one with chocolate inside...her mind will be blown away!

The girls were all fired up and excited for the day doing an orange juice dance to shake it up. 

 I found Cyn before the race and was able to start the race with her and run the first mile before I bailed out.  I wondered around the downtown parks and was able to see some stuff that I haven't seen before.  I needed a long run in and so I incorporated sightseeing and running.

The girls binge watched television at the hotel while Cyn and I were running. 

I ran to the 9 mile mark on the course and waited for Cyn to come by.  We ran in the rest of the way together and find these two little cuties waiting at the last turn of the race course.  They got up and started running the last 100 yards of the race with us. The crowd was so excited about the girls. They were cheering for them and the announcers announced Cyn and her little friends!

Here are the official race pictures of the girls finishing the race. 

At the end of the race the participants could pick out a plant and bring it home to plant. We planted it immediately and now we have a reminder of the fun day we had together.  (Update on the flower: it's in dire need of water. I think it has the ability to rebound if we give it a little TLC!)