I have always been the little sister that said, "if he can do it so can I!" But, I have to say what Grady accomplished yesterday I do not think I will ever try to accomplish in my life! Proud of Grady completing his first FULL marathon! That is right, the Marine Corps Marathon.
He did not get the training he had hoped for before his race due to a few vacations in there, working long hours and still enjoying life over some running but he got it in when he could. Of course, he did not finish when he wanted for the marathon but when you are competitive and driven most of the time even if you finish when you wanted you still say, "if I would have just done this or that I would have finished even faster!" Am I right? We have all been there!
Grady finished the Marine Corps Marathon in 5:09.08. Can you imagine? Five hours of running, ughhhhh!
Dad and I were able to walk around and see him and Caris at different mile markers. We got to see them at 11.5 miles and he looked like he was doing AWESOME!! Him and Caris were crushing it. We then moved so we could see them at mile 15 where I was on stand by if they needed a pick me up running partner. They were crushing it running at 10:28 pace so he told me to wait until about mile 21 to hop in for the last bit. I was on stand by because he had heard that the 18 to the end were the hardest and it is good to have someone come in with you to help motivate you until the end. Him and Caris split soon after mile 15 as his hip was starting to bother him so he told her to go ahead at her pace. Thankfully he texted us to let us know because we had been tracking them together on the map via their bib number and check points!
Sadly, dad and I could not get to mile 21 as it was on the bridge and they were not letting spectators to that point so we had to go a major round about way to get to mile 21.5. We watched Caris pass through and when Grady got there I joined in with him. He was doing okay but not pleased with himself since he had to walk a little by then. Once we turned the corned we were almost to mile 22 and then he started to cramp some. Grady is the runner in the family so I have never seen him struggle when running but he pushed through the cramps, did some interval running and made it to the FINISH!
It was a long day for him and he learned a lot for his next one but he accomplished his FIRST MARATHON this weekend! It was a beautiful day with beautiful views to accomplish a bucket list item of his. WAY TO GO GRADY! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!