My letter to Mother Nature last week may have paid off a little too well. Yesterday Brian and I got up early and headed to St. Paul to watch Jackie race in the Twin Cities 10-Mile. At 8 a.m. it was already 75 degrees with a dew point hovering around 70. It's October, people! Despite her tendency to get quickly overheated, Jackie did fantastic.
If you've never wandered over to St. Paul to watch the 10-mile or the marathon I highly recommend it even if you don't know anyone who is running in it. The energy and positive spirit are completely contagious. Everyone on the sidelines is cheering wildly for complete strangers. I would like to say that it feels like the essence of what it is to be a Minnesotan but I haven't been to other out-of-state marathons so I can't say for sure. All I know is that these types of events tend to bring out the best cheerleaders.
Brian and I parked near Summit Avenue and Dale Street and then walked along Summit Avenue until we reached The Cathedral where we waited for Jackie to run by. All along Summit people were out in full force. Some people brought out their stereo systems and were blaring pump-up songs. Some people had set up tents and were serving bloody marys and bites to eat. As we walked back to our car we even saw a full band setting up; drums, amplifiers, guitars and all.
Jackie passed us at The Cathedral when she had about a half a mile left. You can see her smiling in the first picture below. I put in a red arrow to point her out. In the second picture she is the first person in the turquoise shorts.
If you've never wandered over to St. Paul to watch the 10-mile or the marathon I highly recommend it even if you don't know anyone who is running in it. The energy and positive spirit are completely contagious. Everyone on the sidelines is cheering wildly for complete strangers. I would like to say that it feels like the essence of what it is to be a Minnesotan but I haven't been to other out-of-state marathons so I can't say for sure. All I know is that these types of events tend to bring out the best cheerleaders.
Brian and I parked near Summit Avenue and Dale Street and then walked along Summit Avenue until we reached The Cathedral where we waited for Jackie to run by. All along Summit people were out in full force. Some people brought out their stereo systems and were blaring pump-up songs. Some people had set up tents and were serving bloody marys and bites to eat. As we walked back to our car we even saw a full band setting up; drums, amplifiers, guitars and all.
Jackie passed us at The Cathedral when she had about a half a mile left. You can see her smiling in the first picture below. I put in a red arrow to point her out. In the second picture she is the first person in the turquoise shorts.
We then walked down to the finish line which was right in front of The State Capitol. There were thousands of people and the first marathoner hadn't even finished yet. It was a lot of fun to be around all that excitement. William, of course, wore a special t-shirt just for Aunt Jackie. Below are a few more pictures from the race yesterday. Once again, great job to Jackie and maybe we'll see her AND Brian running next year?
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