I remember, vividly, when Sunshine ran a half marathon last year. I remember it because I let her down on a number of levels, the biggest being that I wasn’t there at the end of the race. There were reasons, sure…but regardless of the reasons, I wasn’t there when she needed me.
It’s been a year of me wanting to make up for that mistake.
Yesterday, Sunshine ran a FULL MARATHON on Prince Edward Island. I can’t even begin to tell you just how impressed I am at the mere thought of running a marathon, much less actually completing one.
We started the day in the near-freezing temperatures on the northern beaches of PEI. It may be beautiful during the summer, but it’s just blistering in the fall. People were dressed in everything from tank tops and short shorts to toques and ear muffs. In addition to that were the crazy people like me…driving all over the island from marker to marker to stand in the cold and yell out our support for the people we love.
If you look really close at the middle, the one with the turquoise jacket and the black hat is Sunshine.
And if that in itself wasn’t enough, she obliterated the time that she ran five years ago in her first marathon…by over an hour! She finished over 42 km (over 24 miles) in under five hours. How awesome is she??
The official time was one second less than this – 4:42!!
For those of you who read both of our blogs, you know that she almost didn’t even run it. Thanks to some positive words from some great people, she changed her mind and ran her ass off yesterday.
To say that I’m impressed would be an understatement. I’m inspired by her achievement. I’m in awe at her ability. Because she overcame so much in terms of mental blocks in order to run this AND finish it, I’m more proud of her than my words can really say.
I believe in her…and hopefully, after yesterday, she can now believe in herself.
