Ryan's Marathons

Wenatchee Marathon - Ryan's first marathon (26.2 miles!).  All ready to head out the hotel to the starting line.

The kids snacking it up while we waited for Ryan and I checked out of the hotel.

Waiting at the finish line (marathons are really long!)

We waited, and waited, and waited.  An hour after Ryan said he would be done I started to get really scared he was hurt.  He didn't have a phone.  I had no way to know where he was in the 26 miles.  I tried not to panic, but it was getting really hot standing out in the sun, and it was past lunch time for the kids.  Finally I checked my phone just in case and as I did I got a call, "I curbed it really bad, said my husband.  I'm okay, but I'm going really slow.  I'm about 2 miles out."  "Okay", I said, "we'll start walking your way."  So there we went, backward on the course looking for my hurt husband.  I was scared he was all bloody and walking with a medic or something.  Luckily, I heard him wrong, he said he "cramped up" on "curbed it".  At mile 18 his legs went completely stiff and he could barely walked, but he did.  He walked the last 8 miles of the race.  I was so proud of him for sticking with it even when he was in so much pain.  He was so frustrated that he didn't run the whole thing.  But...marathon...check!

We did some research when we got home and Ryan most likely had heat exhaustion.  Cramped muscles, pale skin (as shown in this picture), disoriented.  I'm so glad he was wise and didn't push any harder than he did and really hurt himself (passed out somewhere).

Round 2!  Ryan's not much of a quitter, so he decided 6 weeks later to try the marathon again.  Green River Marathon - another 26.2 miles.  This was a free race that was close by in Seattle, so he figured he didn't have much to lose.  Here he is...pushing to the finish line!

So proud of Daddy.  The marathon was still challenging, but he held up much better and shaved off 40 minutes off his time!  You amaze me Ryan.  Way to keep pushing to your goals!