Chicago Marathon 2011

Monica was all smiles when she woke up on Sunday Morning.  We had a close call the night before.  There was a birthday party in the room right next to us and they kept singing Happy Birthday very loudly.  They eventually moved the Birthday Party to another floor where there were no runners who needed to get their sleep.

 It was an awesome experience being on the streets with Monica at 6:30 a.m. There was all kinds of energy and you could feel the excitement.  It was 55 degrees but it felt a lot warmer.  Monica had wings made of duct tape on her back reminding everyone to remember why they run.

 Since I can only have a coffee once every four days (because of my rotation diet), I decided to stop by my favorite coffee shop, Caribou Coffee.  I didn't even have to wait.  I just walked right up and order Ben a tall black coffee and a foo foo coffee for me.

I shot the video above at the twelve mile.  Monica was in really good spirits and even threw a water sponge at me as she passed.  However, by the time she got to the 21 Mile in China Town, she was in the zone and ran inches from us and didn't see us although she heard us when we yelled.  When she got to the gates at Chinatown, they were playing the Rocky Theme.  She was feeling strong now.

This shot was taken at the 21 Mile.  Monica saw Ben and smiled and waved as he ran parallel to her on the sidewalk.

 We were all so very proud and happy that Monica met her goals. We had a hard time finding Monica after the race because we didn't realize that the place we chose to meet was closed off to non-runners.  Monica's phone was dead we later found out due to her pouring water on herself every two miles when she came by the water tables. Whoops!  It looks like she'll get a new one now.  She eventually borrowed someone's phone and we re-connected.  After showering and getting out of her marathon clothes, we stopped and ate and then boarded the train for home. A lot of good things happen in October. One in particular happened eight years ago when Ben & Monica became husband and wife. Today was another monumental moment to add to our memories. All in All, it was a perfect weekend.  Monica finished 17, 000 out of 45,000.  I'd say that is a pretty good statistic.  See you in 2017 Chicago Marathon....if not before.  I've heard it is pretty addicting!