The race was finally here! And we couldn't have pick a better day! The weather was great.. sunshine thoughout the day, warmest at 61degF during high noon...it was just a great day to run 33.5 miles :)
The race started at 7am, with a total of 149 solo runners who were going the whole distance. There were some relay race runners as well. The race course was a very nice old railway route, not too many uphills :), paved with crushed limestone. It had rained a couple of days ago, but the whole course had managed to dry out completely for the race.We had collected our race bib the night before, and early morning, after four SUPER-8 mini waffles, and two crappy coffee, we were ready!
We started off (as usual) at the back of the crowd, and tried to keep a steady pace throughout the day, and it was a long day... Along the way, we encouraged, and managed to cheer a few fellow runners on as well... there were two guys from Grand Rapids, a woman trying to keep up with our pace, and two jokers (who jokingly thought they were running a 5K race). Most of the relay runners would pass us on the change-stations, and they would cheer us on as well. It felt great to receive words of encouragement when the end seemed so far away.
Grace was our crew for this race, and Hannah and I were very grateful for her! We were so glad to see her every time we were running into the aid-station, and she was there, asking us what we need, we can she do etc... Without her, I think it would be even tougher to finish the race. Thank you Grace.
The last 4 miles, after the last aid station, was definitely a testing of our perseverance. Every part of our body hurts, and it felt like we had been running forever. Finally, we could hear the cheers in a distance, and we picked up our pace... Photos of us crossing the finish line wasn't great.... we looked like we suffered so much (our face tells it all :P )... but, we finished! 33.5 miles...6 hrs 30mins!
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