Burlington Marathon

Yesterday was the 22nd Vermont City Marathon! It's a really big event and is so much fun! I always see so many people I know, especially from the nordic skiing community. It's become one of the biggest marathons in the country, which is really cool. Not to mention the food tent is AMAZING. Free Ben & Jerry's? Yes, please.

I've gone to the marathon every year for as long as I can remember. At first it was just with my dad when I was little to watch my mom run and then eventually I started running the 5-person relay with some of the other Martell family members. I've run the 5 mile beltline a couple of times and the 6 or so mile section that goes down Church Street, through the half-way mark for the marathon, and up Battery Hill. This year I decided to really go for it and run the half. My mom had gotten an injury earlier this year and decided not to run the whole thing like she usually does, so she and I decided to do the two-person half marathon relay. (SIDENOTE: Did I mention that my fam is crazy? I talked about my dad and my brother, but I may not have mentioned the madre. She gets up at like 4:30 every morning to run with her group of crazy runner friends. She's run too many marathons for me to count, including a streak of 4 or 5 Boston's.)

It went pretty well, though I ran the first 4/5 miles with one of our family friends that was doing the whole thing and we went WAY too fast. After I dropped off I felt better, but thought that the 8 mile mark at the top of the beltline was going to be the 9 mile mark. Realizing I had another 5 miles to go rather than 4 was a little depressing. About mile 10 was when my legs decided they were pretty done. I hadn't quite done enough long runs, which I knew going into the day. Needless to say, I made it through the next 3.1 miles, but was more than happy to hand off the relay bracelet to my mom and send her on her way. I definitely had fun and am glad I did it, though I'm a little beat up today. I'll survive. I'm taking today off and starting running again tomorrow.

I have some pictures from the day, though as I was lying on the ground watching runners on the bike path head for the finish I completely missed my mom running by. I did get a lovely pic of the sky instead...oops!

A view of the mountains in the morning

And we're off! (Auntie Becky is in the blue. She did the half too.)

Batwoman makes her way to the finish

So many people! It's fun to have such a big crowd.