Marathon Post #2

One of my favorite things about the running the marathon was the shear volume of people. I hadn't really anticipated that. There were 30,000 runners, over 4,000 Marine volunteers and thousands of people cheering us on along the route. Everyone was so gracious and encouraging. People strapped boom boxes to their bikes and rode along beside us so we would have music to run to. Little kids set up their own water stations outside their houses. A team of girls dressed in leotards, legwarmers and singing Bonjovi met us at several locations around the course. There were at least two stops offering free beer to runners and there were lots of hilarious homemade signs. Here are a few examples of things written on signs:

Keep Running the Beer is Near (There was a beer garden at the finish line)
Stop Running and Just Drink Beer
That's Not Sweat, Its Your Fat Cells Crying
Toenails are Overrated (I'm pretty sure I'm going to loose two)
Go Mommy! Go Daddy!
The End is Near - Complete with a guy dressed up as the grim reaper
More Cow Bells!
You Can Doooo It!

There were also more sobering signs. I saw lots of runners with signs on their backs. These included:

Moms running for sons lost in combat.
Warriors running in honor of lost battle buddies.
Spouses running for their deployed significant others.
Many people running for those who couldn't run due to injury.

So, on a final note, Thanks to everyone who donated to the Yellow Ribbon Fund. Our team raised almost 10,000$ and I know it will be put to good use.