Baby Abigail

Luckily the schedule fell into place, such that I could run the marathon on October 2nd and return to Houston in time to celebrate Daniel’s birth on October 5th. I jetted off early Friday morning to arrive in Minneapolis at 11am. Whole Foods had a line of ravaged runners waiting to try their organic snacks too. Anne and I got in a picture with local elite runners Antonio Vega and Jennifer Houck. They signed my race number, which I will send to Abigail.

I eventually made it to the St. Paul Saturday Morning Farmers Market, where I found vendors selling all kinds of tasty and fresh foods, decorations, clothes, etc. I stepped inside and bought a pound of dark chocolate covered treats, to share with family when I got home.

Around the corner was the Fitzgerald Theater, home of Garrison Keillor’s A Praire Home Companion. I waited in line, hoping to get tickets to the 5pm live broadcast. I organized my race gear for the morning and after reviewing some race day logistics, I headed early to sleep.

The medal I gave Daniel from Twin Cities is in his room.

Anne and the Houston crew drove to St. Paul to take the bus into Minneapolis on race morning. The gun sounded and over 8,000 skinny people were off on a 26.2 mile journey from Minneapolis to St. Paul. Leading up to mile 10, I was running with Matt, an undergrad at a college in Wisconsin, running his 2nd marathon. We crossed the half marathon in 1:30:13 as the unofficial 3 hour pace group. The Twin Cities Marathon tops the list as being one of the most scenic urban marathons. After finishing her 10 miler, Erinn caught sight of me near mile 25 and ran alongside me for a ways to cheer me on and encourage my 3 hour effort. I took my time through the finish shoot, grabbing fruit, chips, bread, warm broth, chocolate milk and water. I picked up my sweat bags then received a massage. We joined the 10 milers at Eagle Street Bar and Grill to replenish and reenact our race experiences.

Follow this link to read the entire report.

Twice Uncle, Twin Cities