This is the most AMAZING sight and feeling to experience! My first time participating in a half marathon (13.1 miles) was October 2007. Two months before the race I didn't even know what a half marathon was, lol... I was following some other members of a running/walking group at work and signed up. Once I found out what it was and what was required I began to pray for courage to make it through to the end.
The closer it got to race day I began to lose sleep and have nightmares that I wouldn't make it and I would be disqualified. One of the requirements to participate is that you have to make it to the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel in Canada by a certain time or your OUT! I was so scared and wanted to drop out but I didn't want the other team members to know.
The night before the race I couldn't sleep because I thought I would be late and not make it to the race on time. I finally fell asleep and didn't hear the alarm clock go off and missed the bus. I ended up running over two miles trying to get to the race on time to line up. By the grace of God I made it with only minutes to spare! The next hurdle was to get to the tunnel by 9:30 a.m. The gun went off and my heart began to race, I didn't want to start off to fast but I didn't want to be disqualified either. I started off well doing my first two miles at a 10 minute pace, then I saw the incline to the Windsor Bridge. That mile took almost 20 minutes and I got scared again. It felt like I needed to go to the port-a-potty but the lines were long and I didn't know how much farther the tunnel was so I held it. I pushed on and to my surprise reached the tunnel by 9:05 a.m. I was home free or so I thought, at least I wasn't disqualified lol.
I made it up the last two inclines and turned the corner where I could see the crowd lined up and the tears began to flow like a river down my face. All I could think about was my mother and how proud she would have been to see me complete the race and how much I wish she was still with me to hug me after I crossed the finished line in 3:02 time. Thanks for seeing me to the end Ma, love you!!!
