When my husband mentioned that he wanted to run the Army 10-Miler in Washington, DC a few months ago, my immediate thought was, "Well then I want to go with you." Truth be told, I didn't expect him to actually make the team or be healthy enough to run because just four months ago his knees were in pretty bad shape and he couldn't even run a mile without terrible pain. So I just let him do his thing and waited.
Flash forward to the beginning of the semester. He tried out for KU's ROTC team and made it. So I bought a plane ticket for Adelai and me to join him on the East Coast in October.
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| With the CG of ROTC |
We've been focusing on the important things in our family, and spending $330 for a ticket for me to fly over and spend 48 hours in DC was worth the expense. I wanted Adelai to be there for her daddy when he participated in a big event, and I wanted my husband to know that I supported him. What I really wanted was for this to be a family endeavor. I wanted it to be OUR memory, not just his.
On the morning of the race, October 8, 2017, I received a text from Marshall with a picture of a baby sock. The text read, "Look what I found in my pocket!" I had wondered where that sock went! This was the first baby sock I had lost and I was just waiting for it to show up in a piece of clothing (darn you, static cling). Sure enough, it chose to hide inside of the pocket of Marshall's running shorts.
Instead of throwing the sock away or shoving it into his gear bag, Marshall chose to run with it in his pocket as a good-luck charm. I think it worked marvelously.
It was a hot and humid October morning on race day. So hot that after 2 hours of run time, the race course was shortened by a mile. So hot that 87 runners were sent to medical tents and 39 were taken to the hospital. But Marshall ran the fastest out of all of his team members and he finished within 3 minutes of his goal time, a proud accomplishment for someone who never ran the course, let alone race 10 miles.
Marshall's Results:
Time: 1:13:24
Place: 862nd overall out of 35744 runners
Team Place: 23rd out of 103 teams
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| Mile 3.5. Marshall is the second guy on the left in the blue Jayhawk shirt. |
Adelai, my brother, and I enjoyed cheering Marshall on at mile 3.5. We wanted to get to the finish line in time to cheer him through, but security getting into the pentagon area resulted in a long line and we didn't make it in time. However, the energy, camaraderie, and good sportsmanship was so tangible and electrifying that it was just exhilarating being in the race day crowds.
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| Empty race course, just waiting for the runners to come! |
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| Thoroughly enjoying a dried mango slice from Uncle Nate |
I loved having my older brother who currently attends Yale, make the long drive down to spend the weekend with us and support Marshall. The best part of the day was when I handed Adelai over to Marshall after the race and watching her face light up with pure joy. She loves her daddy so much.
She may not remember this event when she is older, but we will always remember the feeling of love and support that comes from putting family first.
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