I have been reading about the Donna Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer for several years and decided that it belonged on my bucket list. Once I made the decision to be done running marathons, I realized that if I wanted to run this race, I needed to do it this year. I talked Mark into letting me fly down to Jacksonville for a long weekend and then talked two friends into coming down with me. A girls weekend in conjunction with a race weekend.
We left early Friday morning to fly to Jacksonville. My friend Patty and I were on the same flight. Our other friend Louise was on a different airline and would arrive before us and wait in the airport. We found her easily, claimed our bags, got the rental car and we were on our way. One of the volunteers working the Donna table in the terminal told us it would be best if we hit the expo on our way to the hotel. We headed in to downtown Jacksonville to the expo, got our bibs, shirts & bags and then shopped a bit. We were pretty hungry by this time so we asked around and heard that The Landing was nearby and had plenty of places to eat along the St. Johns River. We enjoyed a great lunch sitting in the sun outside. What a fantastic way to start the weekend!
View at Lunch
After lunch, we made our way to our hotel which was on Jacksonville Beach. I chose this hotel because it had the beach location Patty and Louise requested and it was on the full marathon course which meant they could spectate even without a car. We checked in and explored the hotel a bit, then it was off to dinner.
We met a bunch of ROTErs at a local pub/grill and had a nice dinner. It's always so much fun to spend time with my running friends. Then it was back to the hotel and to bed. We had a 5k to walk in the morning.
Saturday morning came and I got up and got myself ready. Once I was out of the bathroom, I woke the other two sleeping beauties up and told them it was time to get ready. Louise got up, Patty told us to go ahead, she wanted to stay at the hotel and relax. Since Patty had just registered for the 5k the day before at the expo, Louise & I thought she was joking. She wasn't. This will forever be known as "pulling a Patty". Louise & I headed back to downtown Jacksonville and met up with Mindy & Dave who were walking the 5k with us.
Dave & I rocking our flowers
Taking a break
Mile 1!
Can't decide if this was yoga or Karate Kid
We had a blast walking that race! Dave was our photographer and he kept us laughing and posing. Louise was walking in honor of her sister who is currently battling breast cancer. I talked Mindy into walking it with us just days before we left and Dave decided to join us the night before at dinner. I was along for the ride.
After the race, we hung around the expo a bit and shopped some more, then headed back to the hotel to relax for the rest of the day. It was overcast and chilly (in the 50's) but that didn't stop us from sitting by the pool and reading a book.
Stay tuned for part 2. The marathon.
No comments:
Post a Comment