SIGNS

Signs seen on our car trip to the Jackson Mississippi Marathon / Half Marathon, some shot out the car windows or on the run in the race.

Crossing the Mississippi just north of the Ohio

Signs on barns in south eastern Missouri



Paintings on Mississippi River dikes

Just one of many displays at a rest stop near New Madrid

Small part of a gracious gracious rest stop in Mississippi



First ever discovery of ORGANIC potato chips

Mississippi Blues Marathon / Half Marathon

Saturday, January 7; Sweet Pea and I earned finisher's medals.

Ten (10) porta potties at the start. Still long lines when the race began. There were ten more beyond the start, but we were unable to find them before the race.

THE HALF MARATHON COURSE

Gated communities and boarded communities

Some marathons begin and end at the capitol building, but Mississippi's magnificent capitol was visible from the race course.. only in the far distance. (dome near the center of the picture)

Access roads, entrance ramps, exit ramps... who knows? Plenty of exhaust to inhale, and usually sharing the road with traffic



Typical residential communities? Abandoned buildings, burned out houses, boarded up homes.
Were the city leaders hoping for donations? Why did they not allow the race course to explore more parks, historic buildings, etc.?




GOOD NEWS

Best marked course we have run: many good signs and a thousand orange cones!

Water stops were fabulous.

Orange shirts... volunteers! ... were everywhere. There was never a question of which way to go at any corner.

Post race food was outstanding. The party was a PARTY!

Fortitude for First Descents Marathon / Half

Lewes, Delaware: State Park on the Atlantic Coast

Course was well marked .. including this "don't go this way".

With 4 loops for the marathon and 2 loops for the half, we saw Don 3 times.

Bring your children to the races!
And my apology to this lovely family for poor focus of my camera... which will be replaced as soon as I can figure out what to get.

One of the first descendants
"Cancer," I said. "Leukemia," he replied softly.
"My dad died of leukemia too," I said, and he hesitated for only an instant, and then hugged me.
The race started then and I cried for the first half mile.


All sorts of traces of World War II defenses in this state park on the Atlantic Coast.

The sky was clear and blue for the first couple of hours, temperatures in the low
40's, but NO precipitation.
When we registered for this race back in September, I feared a sleet storm in mid-December.

We saw a marathoner slip and fall on the pine needles. Most of the way they were not a hazard.

Turn around at the fishing dock on Delaware Bay.

Footprints in the sand, not much of a problem on the trails.

Bless their hearts, the water stop/aid station volunteers.

Clouds gathered and by the end of the race the sky was totally overcast.

50 states myeloma marathoner Don, after the finish. See MinnesotaDon.blogspot.com.
Be sure to see his video on CNN's blog.

Hot soup for runners who finished in less than five hours at this six hour marathon.
Later finishers probably needed it even more, the temperature still being in the low 40's.

We brought some LED Christmas lights for our motel room. (Light in the window is a reflection from a lamp in the room.)

Our marathoner didn't finish in time for the hot soup, but Sweet Pea and I served up chicken breast, baked squash, nachos, popcorn and ice cream back in the room.

Sweet Pea made lattes with organic milk (no steamer, but heated on the stove) and organic French roast filtered coffee.

Seattle Marathon - Half Marathon

Myeloma Marathon Runner Don had a great race, although we did have to thaw him out afterward.

Sweet Pea and I had a lovely time, in spite of light rain, until about mile 10 when the rain and the wind really got going.
The last half marathon she and I ran was Hartford in mid-October. Unfortunately we didn't run anywhere near enough stairs to train for Seattle hills.
Muscles across my rib cage on my back are nearly killing me now, and I do need to figure out some "training" for that pain.
Wondering where all the old women of Seattle are: I finished first out of ONE in my age group.

Have always loved Seattle and still do.
Besides the race, we have walked down at the piers, seen a Washington State Ferry come in, seen the Christmas lights and greens at Pioneer Square, and had a clear view of Mount Rainier.

3 Marathons in 3 Weeks

Amazing Myeloma Marathon Sweetie of mine!
Hartford, Marine Corps and New York City Marathon: he ran them all in 3 weeks.

Sweet Pie and I ran the Hartford half and cheered at the Marine Corps and New York City Marathons.

Love to run love to run love to run! It all began after each of us reached Weight Watchers goal weight.

Two Half Marathons

Portland Maine and Hartford Connecticut, two weeks apart, and we had two memorable car trips through autumn color to get to them.
I celebrate the volunteers, the organization, the interesting race courses, the patient police, the race directors, the folks in the cities that tolerated road races on their streets.
And I sure do recommend both races.

Oh so much depends on the weather for marathon and half marathon races.
In Portland the rain came sweeping at us with 15-18 mph winds.
Below: at the Portland start line, umbrellas and rain gear

Rain came the day before the race in Hartford.
Wading in deep mud just before the start

But in Hartford the temperature was in the 50s... with NO rain on race day, and Sweet Pea and I finished the Hartford Half in HALF an hour less time than we had run just two weeks before in Portland.

I love races and I wouldn't trade the experience of participating in both of these.

MULTIPLE MYELOMA MARATHON MAN !
Here he is at about mile 26 of the Hartford Marathon, as always, happy to be running.
Yea Don! Looking good. That's my guy.