Monday, April 20, 2009

Is He Crazy?!?

The title to this post is a question you may be asking about my husband after reading this post. Well, I'll tell you, no, he is not crazy, but just very determined (a trait I have always loved about him). This past Saturday morning Carl fulfilled one of his lifelong goals and dreams---he ran a marathon! That's right, we got up at 4:30 am, traveled about an hour, and Carl ran 26.2 miles, all before noon! : ) The race was through a town on local roads, so I was able to drive the route as Carl ran it. After the race started I waited a bit, and then went and parked at different spots along the route, passing Carl and then waiting for him to pass me. Doing this I was able to snap some pictures throughout the race and chart his progress. He did a FANTASTIC job! He finished in 4 hours and 1 minute!! That is AMAZING considering this was his first marathon ever, and it was his goal and he RAN the whole way with no walking! GREAT job husband! Below are some of the pictures I snapped along the way.
The sun was beginning to rise as we pulled into the parking lot.

The start of the race line up. There were around 100 runners total.
The first time I caught up with Carl and his friend. This was around mile 7.
Mile 7 again. Pretty happy for running a marathon, huh?
Around mile 10--the course gets tougher.
Around mile 13--finally he stands alone, pulling ahead. :)
Finishing strong!
Finally--Victory! Grabbing his ticket signals that he is at last finished.

6 comments:

Amanda said...

Whoa! That is so awesome! Great job Carl! Way to go on being there for him! That is so awesome! What an inspiration!

Tom and April said...

THat is great...GO Carl!

Jenny said...

WOW!! That IS crazy and amazing!!! AWESOME Carl!! Way to go! I am stunned. I sit here stunned. What a feeling of accomplishment you must feel! That should last a lifetime... imagine getting to tell your children that you ran a marathon one day... WOW. And in that TIME!! Isn't that fast for a marathon!? Sounds like an awesome time for your first one!! Congrats on a great lifetime acheivement.

Anonymous said...

Great job!! You make me tired just looking at the pictures!

~Emily H.

Julie said...

Way to go, Carl! (And congrats to both of you for your little one on the way!) A few of us at church are training for a half right now - I can't even imagine doing the full marathon!

Aunt Teresa said...

That is fantastic. Way to go Carl!!!! Marathon #2 will be in August, but this time you will both be exhausted and blessed when Will arrives. Love you both!!!