Things not to say while cheering on a half ironman

This morning I headed down to Williamsburg, VA to cheer on my friend Shawn.  I was going to meet Kristi and my three nieces at the run portion.  This was Shawn's first Half Ironman so I was really excited to cheer him on.  The course was really cheer friendly.  The runners basically ran four loops around the park area, so we had four chances to cheer him on!

I got to the park a bit early to start the cheering.  While I was cheering on runners I saw a man that I stood behind at the portapotties at Rock n Roll USA!  How funny!  We bonded as I yelled that to him!  I also saw a guy from run club and cheered him on too.  Talk about a small running world!

Soon I saw Shawn running towards me.  So excited!  He looked great!  He left and right behind him was Kristi and the girls.  They saw him as they were driving in and finding parking.

Shawn looks great as he runs by. 

When you have a sign about beer you should always give it to the youngest child with raccoon ears.

Now the fun was going to start.  Those girls are too funny!  Kristi and I decided we need to classify their cheers into "Never Say that to a Runner" and "OK to Say to a Runner"

In the Never Say that to a runner catagory:

Keep running or you will die! (umm..runners do not like to be reminded of death..they are already feeling like death so please do not use the word die around them)

If you run faster you finish faster! (While this is true..runners are going the fastest that the can at the time..they do not need you to mock their speed)

In the OK to say to runners catagory:

You  are the MASTER!  (many seemed to like this one..or they were just surprised by this one..either way they were smiling as they ran past)

Girl Power! (the girls liked this one!)

Surprise Cowbells (the Cowbells would be shown from behind them..very shocking!)

Was not sure how to classify the yell and the "run faster to get away from my voice" cheer...that one didn't last that long.

Shawn finished and did great!  It was a fun day cheering on Shawn with Kristi and the girls!  Why is it that I am just as tired cheering runners on as I am when I run a race??

Running..when it feels like work

So I think I have been in a bit of a running funk.  I am not sure if I am getting a bit freaked out by the upcoming miles that I need to put in for marathon training or if I just am in a funk and just don't feel like running much.  I basically took off the last week from running.  And I am sure you all know what happens when you don't want to run in the middle of a training schedule..you just end up obsessing about the run that was missed..the miles that you should have ran...yeah running is feeling like work.

I miss the runs that bring out the birds to sing to you as your run..the deer come out and cheer you on as you look like your feet are barely hitting the ground you feet are that light.  The weather is perfect and there is a perpetual smile on your face as you run.  (sort of sounds like Snow White laced up her running shoes...)  Well I have not had that run in some time.  My runs have been work.  Work to schedule my runs..Work to wake up early to squeeze in my run before the heat hits.  Its just feeling like plain work.  And unfortunately I have been calling off from work for a week.

I ran around the neighborhood tonight.  As I was running I waved to some ladies sitting on their porch enjoying the beautiful evening.  On my next loop, they started to cheer me on.  I may need those ladies there every time I run!  It almost made me want to add some miles to my run to see if I could get them to cheer again.  Hopefully my funk is over.

Cheering on the Marine Corps Marathon Runners!

Yesterday Becky and I met to drive over to cheer on all of the marathoners running the Marine Corps Marathon yesterday.  It was also Megan's first marathon, so of course we are cheering extra loud for her :)  I know some people running it, so it should be lots of fun..who I am I kidding it WILL be lots of fun, I love cheering at MCM!  We arrived pretty early at Crystal City.  I knew we were going to see lots of the really fast runners.  We parked and unloaded our car.  We were unloading so much stuff that I thought we were moving into Crystal City.  Chair...check, tons of candy ...check, umbrella...check...signs...check..backpack...check.  Who knew that a bunch of candy could be so heavy.  We ended up meeting some random stranger who was headed to the grocery store.  He was looking to add some more running to his morning so offered to take two of our bags of candy and "run" with us to our spot near Army Navy Drive.  It was very nice of him.  We ended up being the first to set up on the street (other than the three Marines with their bullhorn announcing Dunkin' Donut holes and water around the corner). 

 

We decided to start off with our signs...

 

Those fast runners wouldn't want to stop for some of our candy, so we held some signs and cheered really loud.  It was a really nice day for a run.  Overcast, upper 50's, the only issue was wind.  Man hurricane Sandy was throwin' around some wind.  At one point we had to chase down our sign.  We knew once we started handing out candy the signs would go away.  We did figure out how to have one sign on our chairs without it blowing away, but you couldn't really read it..oh well. 

As we started seeing a little bit more runners, we started passing out some of our candy.  We had lots of bags with us.  Last year Megan ran for a bunch of bags of pb cups since we ran out so early..this year I didn't see that as a problem.  We had lots. 

Becky and myself were yelling out our goodies to all of the runners.  At times I felt like I was working at a carnival trying to get people to throw a dart at the balloon.  It was lots of fun.  I was tracking some runners and was also on the lookout for them as I was yelling about my swedish fish and sour patch kids.  At one point someone ran past yelling my name.  I couldn't place who it was and then he yells his name.  It was Mark who Megan and I met at the Marine Corps Historic Half in June.  We had dinner with him and his wife.  It was great yelling to him "Good Luck"

Next up I saw my friend Keith from high school.  He was doing a great job and knocked off an hour from his previous time.  Way to go Keith!  Becky and I  continued to hand out our goodies.  People really loved candy at mile 23/24.  We got a lot of thank you's and you're the best! 

Soon we see Megan.  She is looking great.  I start yelling for her and waving her sign as she entered Crystal City.  She looked so much better than I would at mile 22. 

Someone looks happy to see us!

Megan sat down to enjoy a pb cup and a quarter of a pb sandwich that I made for her.  She caught us up on her race and then she was off!  It was great cheering her on, but really we had a job to do..we had candy to hand out and a few more people to look out for.  :) 

 

Now we started to learn something about marathon runners and candy.  Some candy I was doubtful would go.  Really who would want a Kit Kat while running??  Well turns out runners love Kit Kats, Snickers, Hershey bars along with the normal PB cups (a true favorite), Swedish Fish, and Sour Patch Kids.

As we are handing things out..Becky sees him..The Juggler...ugh..I think he follows me.  Not only does he mock the half marathoners with his "this is so easy I can juggle while running 13.1" he also mocks the marathoners.."and this is pretty easy so I think I will juggle while running 26.2"  "Oh you juggler!" *shaking fist*

After seeing Megan, Ryan from run club ran over got a pb cup and gave us kisses and was off to finish up his first marathon.  He was looking great for his first marathon too! 

We were starting to run out of some of our candy.  Becky was down to a few pb cups and Almond Joys.  Now really, you can't give Almond Joys to runners!  Well once again, I was wrong.  She offers up Almond Joys and next thing you know a runner is hugging her telling her she is the best and takes the Almond Joy.  I just didn't realize the love for Almond Joys!  The smiles that we saw on faces because of on little Almond Joy was amazing! 

We then saw Jen from runclub and gave out some Swedish Fish.  It was her first marathon and I thought she was looking great too.  It was amazing how great those first time 26.2 people looked! 

Next up was Gary. 

Gary took  a pb cup and was off.  I ran a little bit with Gary until he hit the water stop.  He was looking great while running too.  I loved seeing all of my friends running!  I would never run 26.2 but I really do love cheering on those who are running that crazy distance! :) 

 

Becky and I stuck around till almost the end.  We ran out of everything but whoppers.  Some of my walking friends enjoyed the whoppers we had left and our cheers while they were heading to the finish.  Some of those back of the pack people I think really enjoyed our cheers and our sign (once we ran out of candy the signs came out).  Even though most of the people left our street we stayed to cheer extra loud.  If people had their name on their shirt/arm we made sure to include their name in our cheering too! 

 

Great job to all of the Marine Corps Marathon Finishers!!  Oorah!

Trick or Treating at the Marine Corps Marathon

So Megan is running her first marathon.  Becky and I will head over to cheer her on.  I think Marine Corps Marathon could be my favorite race to cheer.  Now how do you cheer on runners at mile 23ish? 

Why with candy and signs of course!  I have lots of pb cups, Swedish fish (my favorite) and sour patch kids to hand out to all of those runners who pass mile 23.  Last year Megan thought I was nuts to take candy.  Those runners loved the candy!!  They crossed the street when they heard my loud voice yelling "peanut butter cups!"  Yeah it was a good call to take candy. 

This year candy will be provided too.  I have more candy for runners than trick or treaters at my house!  Not sure how the little kids feel about that, but I won't tell them if you don't tell them.  I may have a small stash for all of the people I know running MCM.  If I run out of candy, don't worry free high fives will still be offered too.  I don't normally run out of high fives, so if you are a slower runner worrying that I won't have anything left for you, I will still be able to offer some high fives and loud cheers! 

Hopefully the weather stays rain free and wind free on Sunday for all the runners.  Sandy is supposed to bring some rain late Sunday and into Monday.  Lets hope the rain stays away.  Megan and all of the runners would rather run in dry clothes than in wet ones. So please Sandy..stay away until Monday and then I would like a day off b/c of all of your rain potential. :) 

Good Luck to all of the MCM runners!! 

Cheering on the runners at the Marine Corps Marathon!!

What a great day to cheer the runners who were running the Marine Corps Marathon.  Our friend Whiticar was also one of the runners.  We set ourselves up at mile 22/23.  Looked like we got there just before our friend was hitting mile 22.  Perfect timing.  We came prepared with signs and candy.  I didn't realize how excited people would be to get some candy.  We ended up running out rather quickly so Megan high tailed it to a Rite Aid for some back up supplies.  I believe we went through 10 to 11 bags of candy.  Crazy.  It was a great day to cheer on everyone!  We started cheering at 11 and stayed  until after 2 to cheer on the last few runners.  I always hated when I was towards the back, people were leaving and nobody was really cheering, well not this time.  We made sure to cheer extra loud for those back of the packers!!  Way to go.  I now leave you with pictures of our day.

Handing out candy made runners smile :)

We found Whiticar!  Great job!

He was super excited to see us and his sign too :)

free high fives

Santa was gettin' his run on!

We owned Mile 22 cheer section!

Marine Corps Marathon Cheering Section!

Wishing everyone who is running the Marine Corps Marathon good luck!  I will be there with some friends to cheer people on. :)  This is my first time cheering at MCM..I am super excited.  We are also going to buy some goodies to hand out too :)

I am hoping to get a spot somewhere around mile 22..but we will see how many people have decided to do the same too :)

Our running club friend, Whiticar is running MCM!  Go Whiticar!!

Good luck to everyone running a race today :)  And all of you MCM'ers..keep on running towards the beer :)