A tale of three marathons

October 2011 was the start of our journey toward completing a Spring marathon. 29 women ran long miles together every other weekend, got up at 4am to fit in miles before work, pounded out miles on the treadmill when necessary, battled illness and injury, and developed lasting friendships.

Troy, Alisa and Kim after 18 miles in March

We learned to run with frozen eyelashes, to tuck water bottles inside our jackets to prevent them from freezing, the warmest way to layer clothing, and that chocolate milk is a perfect recovery beverage no matter what the weather throws at us.

Patty, Mandy, Linda and Jen finish 20 miles

Four of us started the three marathon journey at the Flying Pig marathon in Cincinnati. This race has long been on my to-do list, because who can resist a medal with the front - and back - of a pig on it? My sister from Houston decided to join me, along with Fern, Troy and Jill who thought a marathon in Ohio sounded like fun. It WAS fun - lots of pig-related waterstops like the Hawg Wash where they gave us wet, cold towels to drape around our necks, or the Big Bad Wolf costumed teens who chased the little piggies all the way home.



Diane and I with volunteers at the pasta dinner



Our local marathon, the Shires point-to-point race from Bennington to Mancheste,r was next up for 10 women from our group. Last year they ran in a downpour in 50 degree temperatures. This year we had a heat wave, with relentless sun and temperatures in the 90's. The theme for the day was 'ice, ice baby' as ice rubbed on the neck and wrists, dumped into cups of water and Gatorade, and stuffed into running bras and calf sleeves saved the day. It was brutal yet empowering:  if I can run 26.2 miles in this type of heat, I can do anything.

before the Shires marathon

The final marathon for our group this Spring was the Vermont City marathon in Burlington, VT over Memorial Day weekend. 11 women from our group ran with the thousands of other relay team members and marathoners, steadily climbing up the steep hill on Battery Street and winding along the bike path next to Lake Champlain.

showing off Vermont City marathon medals

7 months. 29 women. 3 races. Hundreds of miles on the roads between Bennington and Manchester. Rain, snow, mud, sun and every so often a perfect running day that made us want to keep running longer. Blisters, lost toenails, sore knees and quads, IT band issues. Thank goodness for compression tights, ice, fuel belts, and Honey Stingers. Hours of conversations about children, work, spouses, running, and does celery really increase sex drive?

The driving force behind the miles was friendship. We trained together, we took a Pilates class together, we made pizzas together at Mandy's house with the help of master baker Jed (who also finsihed the Vermont City Marathon with us), we enjoyed post-run meals at Chauney's together. We often ran on our own during the week, but there was always the encouragement of the rest of the group to keep us going, especially when we posted about the run on Facebook, or watched Mandy's videos of our long runs or along the course in Burlington.

Thanks for a fantastic, amazing, wonderful marathon training and racing season my friends. We trained and ran the marathon - Because we can.