It was a beautiful day for a…

HALF MARATHON!!

The Des Moines IMT Marathon/Half Marathon/5K fell on this cool & sunny Sunday morning and, while I was just a spectator,

my big brother ran his heart out in the halfie! Whoooo!!!

It was his first half-marathon and the whole family came out to support him. Finn made him a “Go Daddy!” sign,

and even Grandma was there to root on our guy!

Over 7,000 runners participated in the races which were led by the elite pack who, I swear, had smoke wafting out from under their feet. They were CRAZY quick!

The area where we were situated was on mile 5, but the runners looped back around so we were able to see my brother again as he wrapped up mile 8. Finn, (my brother’s son) watched anxiously as runner after runner passed by.

Finally he spotted him.

8 miles down, 5.1 to go!

We actually caught up with him at mile 12 too and while he wasn’t looking quite as happy, he was still chugging along, bless his heart!

Aaaaaand DONE!! I have to tell you, my brother is a giant at 6’5 and 215+lbs (if I had to guess) and to see someone chug their insanely tall body 13.1 miles is quite impressive. He did a GREAT job and finished way under his goal time. We were so proud!

 

Finn was too, although he wasn’t quite sure what to make of his dad’s finishing medal.

Do I pull it apart? Do I answer it like a telephone?

I’m kinda hungry…maybe I’ll eat it!

Actually we were ALL pretty hungry, so we headed to my parent’s house for a post-race recovery lunch. We’re awfully supportive of our family members, especially when it comes to carb loading after a big run.

Lunch included all our carb-rich faves like Grandpa’s Pasta Salad.

Pasta tossed with zesty dressing, spices, pepperoni & fresh veggies. MY FAVE.

Fresh fruit.

Including juicy pineapple, cantaloupe & grapes. 

Other munchies like chips & dip,

and our main entree – hearty Loose Meat Sandwiches (Maid-Rites for you fellow Midwestern folks!) My Mom has an AMAZING recipe for these babies, which I’m going to get and make soon. They’re soooo good.

Well, sheesh, it certainly appears as if I was eating to replenish the calories burned during a 13.1 mile run!

But wait, there was still room for dessert.

Blueberry pie!

Which was housed by the half marathoner himself. Mmmm yeah.  

 

Well my Aunt & Grandma have boarded their plane back to Ohio and I’m currently catching up on Jersey Shore. A great way to wrap up a GREAT weekend. ‘Til tomorrow – goodnight!

~~~~~

Have you ever run in a race?

I’ve done a bunch of 5Ks and a half marathon in 2008. Seeing all the runners this morning really made me want to give a halfie another go someday. I was going to run this one with my brother, but Italy and out of town trips just didn’t allow for proper training. Maybe next year!!!!