I hardly slept a wink the night before the race, not sure WHY? Probably all the activity and a bit frazzled from driving in the city, I will run the city any day much more fun than driving :) We made a plan to meet Jill and took Muscle Man's secret map to the start. Zoe, Marlene, Jill + hubby and Jill's friend filled up her awesome minivan. The SECRET route was not so secret as the Rock N Roll Marathon got smart and let the buses off there. Oh well, we were still in great shape.
Made our way to the Brooks VIP Porta Potties, good thing because I have never seen lines so very long.. URGH!! The Brooks toilet paper, flush toilets, and warm water were very VIP, someone has pictures?? I think?

I had posted that we should all try to meet
around Corral 6 and look at everyone who showed up!! So fun to start the morning with hugs, meeting people and chatting. Putting faces to Blogs and "knowing"
so many wonderful women along the course. This was the BEST
pre-race yet.

I scored on
pink hats for our trio. I thought it would be easier for us to spot
each other with the bright hats. Poor Amanda was freezing thankfully I had a toss away sweatshirt to keep her a little warm.
We all were feeling a bit off, I honestly was not sure that I would make it. Mother Nature has not been nice to me the last few days. The Corrals are very organized and started to move. My shoe was driving me nuts so I bent to tie it before we set out.
I had
major cramps the first 3 miles, thankfully the plan was to start slow so it was manageable. We laughed at the water at mile 1, seemed a bit early. We also saw a girl with green and purple plaid patterned shorts that bounced up and down to
reveal her black thong...
URGH!! The race bands, cheerleaders, photographers, supporters and volunteers were AMAZING! As we turned a corner an adorable little runner in white introduced herself as
LINDSEY. She had read the Wellness article I was featured in and was running her FIRST MARATHON!! My cramps instantly passed as I chatted with this wonderful runner. We hung together for a bit chatting away as we saw KERRIE in pink with her Camera.

Looks like I am trying to give a
High Five.. you can see Lindsey to the left in the photo and Marlene and Amanda to the Right of the tall guy in the middle.

I totally forgot all the hills the first half of the race, but they were pretty rolling. Off we went. Bye Kerrie!!
There may be more photos along the course I will post as I get them.. Around mile 7 Marlene was needing to hit the Honey Bucket. Amanda did not feel she could stop so I decided to cut the distance and headed back to get Marlene. We would see Amanda along the course but could not find the speed to bridge the gap. She ended with a PR while running sick on a tough course.
After the pit stop it was on to the first Gu station at mile 7, Marlene grabbed a bunch and we laughed as she tried to get them in her belt while running. Just then I heard "Mel" it was Chelsea who I had met at the Run Like a Mother book signing. "Hi Chels!!" She will be running on our "Will run for Icecream" team in September.
I was TIRED and not feeling well, I am not sure how I kept going, the steep hill to the I-90 bridge was tough. I was about to face the DEMONS that had taken me out last year. But I was not alone, I was with a friend!! I focused on the beauty of the water and surrounding area. The out and back on I-90 is tough, but the miles passed quickly. I spotted Lyla who I had run 18 miles with a few weeks ago. I saw another lady with a Marathon for the Cure shirt, but she did not see me. I was BLOWN AWAY by the number of people running for good causes, INSPIRATION beyond words. Seemed like every 5th runner was in Team in Training Purple.
About to get to the bridge I strained to look for Jill. I said "Bummer we wont see Jill," not 2 seconds later I heard "Mel!" It was Jill smiling from ear to ear, I instantly turned and sprinted back for a quick hug. I am SOOOOO PROUD of her!! Then into the spooky tunnel where I wet myself one year earlier. I am not a fan of tunnels, so I just wanted to get out. Out of the tunnel we saw a Marathoner carrying a full sized camera and stopping to snap photos, CRAZY dude! We were getting very close to where the course would split, I hoped to see my friend Kiera running her first half, but no luck. I knew my race crew would be around the corner.
I strained to see them as I saw a little white runner, it was LINDSEY, she had passed us when we stopped at mile 7. I giggled as she hit her side to ease some pain, it was fun to see a smiling face again. I was scanning the area then I saw MY SUPPORT TEAM Charity, Lynette and Tom. I am usually RACING and never give them their proper thanks for coming to watch me. This time I stopped to give hugs, snap a photo and refill my water. I am so thankful to have wonderful friends who totally support my hobby, no matter how crazy it may be. They told me they liked my pink dot Running Skirt, which I LOVED racing in, I think I told Marlene that about 33 times..OOPS!
- We stopped a bit too long and got STIFF, oops!! Sorry Marlene. Off we went down the steep hill as the 1/2 marathoners went to Finish. The second half of the race is ROUGH, but we were having a blast and were ready for the miles to come. We both were THIRSTY and could not get enough water, topping off our handhelds often at water stops. Normally I would drink maybe 2 bottles, I think I had 5 1/2 during the race not including Cytomax, WEIRD! The extra water would haunt us at mile 17ish as we NEEDED potty stop #2. I joked with Marlene that she really liked American Honey Buckets :) I was glad we stopped because WOW that was a relief. As we headed up the hill we saw black thong girl AGAIN, her pants seemed a little better, we saw her 4 times during the race.
I started to think we were going to miss Stephanie on the FAST side, I said "Bummer I think we missed Steph," just then she came beaming out of her potty stop pant half pulled up :) It was like something out of a Seinfeld episode, and made me laughed. She PR'd on a tough course with a potty stop...WOW!!
- The steady 1.5 mile hill was not taking us down, we kept a steady clip only stopping for water. I thanked many of the volunteers and we were serenaded by one of the bands. Funny I never thought I would get so many comments wearing pink, but I heard "Team Pretty in Pink" a lot. I decided I will always wear pink if people call me pretty ;) The Bridge over no water was AWESOME, the views unmatched. I know that on a clear day it would have been even better but the cloud cover kept us cool and comfortable.
As we took the turn the cheerleaders went CRAZY and it gave me a spark. We kept steady taking Gu's and chomps at regular intervals, chatting and pointing out fun things along the course. We saw a guy dressed as Elvis, too funny. Several times along the course I would here "Tall Mom!" It was great to have such encouragement along the way, to ALL OF YOU who made the effort to say Hi I truly appreciated it!! Please drop me a line if you saw me along the way.
- On the way back down I spotted the pretty Team in Training girls Hannah and Michelle, and we yelled.. i loved seeing so many friendly faces along the route. They looked strong headed up the KILLER hill. Mile 20 came and went with no WALL in site. Marlene started to feel off so it was back to the Honey Bucket for potty stop #3, I shook my legs out to the band nearby and hoped the spectator in front would let her go first. She did and we were on our way.
We re-passed people AGAIN, with a few people making comments..hehehehe... What can you do? We talked about what to eat for dinner and how we would pose for the Finish line. Then I got HYPER!! Not sure if it was the caffeinated Gu or what, I started yelling at the spectators, encouraging other runners, and thanking everyone in site. I was having the time of my life, not chained to my Garmin, connecting with the course and everything about it. The same place where one year earlier I died a thousand deaths, this year I had my VICTORY! As we passed Lindsey again, my heart was FULL, this is the FUN I had been aching for in a race. I could tell that Marlene felt the same, although I think she may have thought I was delusional with my HYPER mode :)
- As we trotted along legs heavy a woman said "thanks ladies," apparently her running buddy had gone on ahead when she had legs cramping and was thanking us for the encouragement. Her name was Heather a local runner working toward her FIRST Marathon, we adopted her for about 3 miles. We chatted and at one point she asked us what college we went to, LOL!!! She was so focused on the road and really did not look at us, we took it as a compliment.
The last 2 miles of the course are boring, blah and TOUGH. We took the final turn toward the last uphill, Heather faded and we continued to PASS many people. Down the hill came Steph who took our picture, gave us a quick race report and ran off, she is AWESOME!! At one point Marlene recognized Tall Guy Surfing and his lady, we chatted for a bit then sped up again. he is TALL, I should change my blog name after meeting him. So fun RUNNING into people :) The Finish was so close, a couple more turns, we talked about dinner again milkshakes and Pizza we decided as I switched my handheld to the other hand.
- The turn was PACKED with spectators so I raised my hands to get them to cheer, they humored me :) A man was sporting a Gonzaga Sweatshirt so I yelled "Go Zags!" There they were again my Support crew smiling as I passed, I cannot say thank you enough to those who come to watch races and cheer us on, it means so much!!
The last stretch and there were 2 strong looking guys ahead of us, "Lets go!" I said and we both sped up. We were SPRINTING to the line we had been STRUGGLING to reach all day. As we approached the pad we clumsily grabbed hands and tossed them in the air TOGETHER!!!

So many emotions but the main one was JOY, I loved running this race with so many friends along the way. Smiling faces,
encouragement and support.
After we crossed the line and stopped I realized I needed to VOMIT, URGH! I bent over and nothing came out, there was a dude not 2 feet from me who did not seem to move.. Hmmm guess he wanted puke shoes. It had to be the sprinting and all the water. I recovered and we went to re-connect with Amanda. I chose a pretty lady with green rimmed glasses who gently placed the medal around my neck. Posed for a TEAM picture with the photogs and headed to grub lane..

No race blankets left so Amanda went to the med tent to get one, it was COLD! We grabbed all we could then went to B to find my support crew and others. My friends brought our post-race gear and a blanket, we settled in.. Soon Jill finished, as the athlete tracking text came across my phone I got a HUGE smile.. I am not sure where those pictures are, check out Jill's recap soon
HERE for more photos.
Welcome to the Club Jill, I am so proud of you! The smile on her face said it all. I LOVE LOVE people who show their joy, it is infectious.

Put on the Recovery and
CEP socks, all in Pink
Team Pretty in Pink. Poor Amanda had cramping so my
BFF Charity went into full nurse mode trying to ease the pain. I love Charity after races, she is
sooo attentive to me "Mel you need to drink that, "Mel there is a
banana behind you," "Maybe you need more chips," she takes care of me when I am TOTALLY Marathon brain-fried. I looked up and spotted our little buddy.

Meet Lindsey, new Marathoner and new friend. Thank you for introducing yourself, I will be emailing you at the
office on Monday!! Welcome to the club!!!

A HUGE thanks to my
Bestfriend for being there to cheer and take care of me. I felt so blessed and so loved!!

Meet Lynette and Tom, our drivers, photographers and gear
Sherpas. Lynette packed
trail mix, Marlene and I proceeded to steal all the M&M's oops... :) Thank you two for coming, I cant wait to see the photos!!

I thought I would test the post-race beer but I still felt gross, so we settled for posing with the beer :) We shopped the booth with the killer advice from
Steph, I got another Brooks T!!
Marlene was there every step, I would not have been able to get a 4:15 without her. We STRUGGLED, but when you struggle together the burden is not so hard to take. There are races like Eugene where everything flows perfect, both Marlene and I were off energy wise, potty wise, thirst wise, had blisters and headaches, but TOGETHER we made the most out of it and had a BLAST.
- CONGRATS to all those who completed the Rock N Roll Half or Full Marathon!!
- Don't Forget I ran this race for Marathon for the Cure. I will have a dedication post up this week. A HUGE THANK YOU to all those who donated. Once I donate the Bloggy carbo meet-up proceeds the tally will go over $1,700 to Susan G Komen Breast cancer research.