Marathon Mom!

My friend Kathy turned us on to the idea of walking a marathon, and we learned that my Mom had been wanting to try this.  We all signed up for the MDI Marathon in Bar Harbor, a super walker-friendly race with an 8.5 hour cutoff and an early start option.  Sadly Kathy couldn't make it (we missed you!), but then our friend Elaine got excited about it and signed up.  Along with several of Mom's "Hikers from Hell" lady friends, we gathered in Maine for a big weekend of firsts.

Before the race with our support crew/cameraman extraordinaire:

Our friend Sheila (Elaine's sister) flew up from Texas to support Elaine and help document the experience:

One of the Hikers from Hell wearing appropriate devil horns, with Elaine and Mom:

More Hikers from Hell with Headgear:

Pre-race fun at the starting line:

We are here...

One last pre-race photo:

And we're off!  And it wasn't raining (yet)!

John captured the start on video - thanks John!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su6gwbqjZLE

At the first crew access point, we were still being passed by runners from the regular start.  And it was raining by that point:

But we're still doing good!  Mom was ready for her walking poles but we were moving well and staying warm.

Drive-by shooting:

Here we are in one of the small towns we walked through, and the rain was about the worst through here.  Our shoes were quite soaked at this point, nearing the halfway mark.  The upside was that most of the runners had gone past, we were no longer in an area of high vehicle traffic, and we were approaching the most beautiful part of the course - along Somes Sound.  So lovely.  Crews weren't allowed to drive there so we have no photos and you'll just have to take my word for it.  Or go see for yourself.

Come back out to "civilization", still doing well at 18 miles in:

A short video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGab-97gScw&feature=youtu.be

Heading up the road, having to deal with car traffic again.

The foliage was wet and lovely:

Sheila watching for us and staying dry:

Less than 6 miles to go!

The last section started getting tougher for Mom, but she hung in and persevered.  Our mile splits stayed pretty consistent even though it sometimes felt slower.  The long hill didn't seem to cause too many problems, but we were pretty psyched to get to the top.  The 24-mile aid station was still manned (thank you!), and Elaine entertained us with some funky dancing to the music they were playing.

Approaching the finish line!

A couple of the Hikers from Hell who rocked it (everyone finished strong)!

John spying on us as we're coming into town, all three of us moving well:

Mom looking great and Elaine walking with her daughter Leah:

Taking in the experience:

We made it!!  We started one hour early, so our official time was ~7:50 and change:

Wow, y'all!

So very proud of you both!!

Congratulations!