10,000 Strong

Friends, today I witnessed something inspiring, exciting and touching all at the same time. Today, I rose before the sun to watch 10,000 runners attempt either a marathon, half marathon or a 5k on the streets of Charlotte.  For lack of better words, it was amazing.

Particularly, I went because my good friend and running buddy, Jess, was running in the half marathon.  Because I know how good it feels to see people cheering you along the sides of the course, I wanted to be there for her when she accomplished this goal yet again. (I believe this was her third half marathon, correct me if I'm wrong, Jess.)

When Jess went to line up, I walked down the street a bit to so that I could have a good view of all the runners when they came past.  When they lowered the flag to start the race, I could not believe just how many people there were. They just kept coming and coming and coming. I stayed there until the very last runner had run past and I cheered for her just like I cheered for the thousands of others before her.

As a bonus, Amie was running in the Jingle Jog 5k this morning.  It started 30 minutes after the marathon and the half started, so I went back down the street to watch her. Amie is a very fit person, but she is not a runner.  She volunteered to run today, even though she has never run three miles in her life, because of a program called Girls on the Run.  Girls on the Run is a non profit group that helps pre-teen girls develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running. Amie is a teacher and the GOTR group from her school needed more adults to run with the girls in the big race.

Let me tell you the many, many people lined up for the 5k were no less inspiring than those for the marathon or the half.  After seeing them off, I went and put my stuff down in my car and ran two miles myself because I had to get a work out in today, and I had some time to kill while I waited for them to come back around.  When I was done, I walked down to the near the end of the 5k finish line and stood there clapping and cheering for hundreds of young girls as they neared the finish line.  I was there at least thirty minutes, and it was the best part of my whole week.

I saw tiny, tiny girls running alongside grown women. I saw girls running with their dads, holding hands as they crossed the finish line. I saw a couple of girls crying, but I saw so many more light up when they realized they had made it, they were within sight of the finish line.  I yelled, "Way to go girls, way to run!"

By the time Amie and her girls finished, we didn't have time to go out on the half marathon course to see Jess, so we decided to just wait for her at the finish. She finished strong after running 13 miles that took her all over Charlotte. Amie has some great pictures of Jess crossing the finish line, but I'm not quite as good of a photographer, so here's what I got:

The very first runners of the marathon.

Jolly Jill waiting for the races to start!