He did it! He did it! He did it!

You might be wondering "what in the world is Rachel talking about? "

Well....

Sunday morning, my dear Hubby, ran in and completed a half marathon! That is 13.1 miles!!! Running! All the way!!! That is insane!!!

The race was "The Emerald City Half and Quarter Marathon." held in Dublin, Ohio.

Sunday morning, Dear Hubby and I were up at and out the door at 4:45am for an hour drive to Dublin for his first half marathon.

To say that Hubby was nervous would be an understatement. (In truth, he drove me nuts for the 2 days prior because he was so nervous). Upon arrival, we parked and walked to the starting line so hubby could pick up his shirt and bib. Then we stood around and waited for the start. (It actually was delayed by 15 minutes due to traffic on one of the main roads that the runners would be running on....)

There was over 3000 runners there....

Hubby got off to a great start....

While he ran, I went back to the van and sat and read some of a library book. I then walked over the grocery store and got a frappucchino from Starbucks (not the brightest thing for me to get!) and a couple of donuts for breakfast.

Around 9:15am I went back over to the finish line to wait for Bill, as he said his goal was to run it in under 2 hours and 20 minutes. So I waited for him....I watched other runners come through. There was a couple who looked like they were in their 70s running hand in hand. It was really sweet! I saw a father and son duo who were running in the quarter marathon come through....Then I saw him coming toward the finish line.

He ran in 2:16:33.72! That is AWESOME for a first time half marathon!

After he was done, we went to McDonalds so he could change into non-sweaty (AKA- non-stinky) clothes for the hour long car ride home and to get him some food. Then we headed home. That night we had my family over for Ron's Pizza to celebrate Bill's accomplishment! And to thank my sister for coming over and spending the night Saturday night into Sunday and watching our kids so that I could be there for my husband.

Bill is 41 years old. He will tell you that he is overweight. He started running around a year ago. He has since competed in a 4 mile run, a 5K and now a half-marathon! He ran in this for himself and for our family. He ran this race in memory of our son, Travis, who was born silently into Heaven September 21, 2008 (he has Travis' name and date of birth on his headband). He ran in memory of a high school runner that he befriended named Nick who was a runner and who died in a tragic auto accident a couple of years ago. Bill is an inspiration to me and I hope to our children!

Have you or someone you know done anything recently that you are proud of?

Do you think you could run in a half-marathon?