Watching Mary Run Through the Wall

 It's funny how sometimes you plan for a memorable event months in advance and other times, you just stumble upon them serendipitously!

This weekend I flew to Sacramento for Mom's birthday on Thursday and it just so happens, it was the same weekend that my friend, Mary Ferguson, was running in the California International Marathon!

Once I found out that Mary would be there, I thought it would be fun to see her, but I know that often viewing someone in a marathon comes with complications.  Even when you each know where you'll be ahead of time, it's often hard to spot each other in the crowd.

Well, I feel so lucky that Mile 20 (called "The Wall" in marathon-speak) was only about a mile from Mom's house, so I was able to easily walk there.  Also, thanks to the CIM Website, I was able to find out Mary's pace while she was running so I could estimate when she'd be running through "the wall."

Dave, Mary's boyfriend, texted me a picture of her as she ran through the half-way point, so I was able to keep an eye out for her white visor and blue running clothes. 

(For the record, there are a lot of similarly clad runners.  I have two other videos of me cheering on people who I thought were Mary, before I got the right one.)

It was so exciting, not only to see Mary in the crowd of runners, but that she saw me and gave me a hug (sacrificing a few seconds of her race time)! Not to worry, though, she still came in under 4 hours - her personal best!

A sub-4 hour marathon is absolutely incredible at any age, but almost unbelievable at age 65! Of course, Mary looks and acts much younger. No one would ever guess she was 65. The woman just doesn't age!

Dave and his friend, Bill, were able to pick me up and we all met Mary at the finish and enjoyed a celebratory drink.

Having run 3 marathons myself, I have to say, it is so much easier to be a spectator than a participant. I'm in awe of Mary, her energy, drive and ability.  Even in my 40's, my fastest marathon was 4.5 hours and I could barely walk at the end. Mary is such an inspiration!

I feel so lucky that I was able to be here for such a momentous event!  I know the excitement of finishing a marathon after months of training and even though the accomplishment was Mary's and not mine, I was able to live vicariously and feel that excitement for her!