Air Force Half Marathon

Our family before the race. Yes! It really was THAT cold!

Ben and Lills before the race

Greg (Ben's running partner) and Ben before the race

The half marathoners from Ben's squadron before the race

Coming to the finish line

Here's Ben with his medal and Lilli

In the middle of September we made the looooooooooooooooong drive up to Dayton, OH for Ben to run in the Air Force Marathon. It was a quite a trip, but so fun. We left on a Thursday and drove to Knoxville, TN. It was gorgeous!! We drove through the Smoky Mountains. They are definitely different from the Rockies. There are tons of trees and hardly any Evergreens. It was so beautiful! I would love to go up there again. Friday we got up and drove the rest of the way to Dayton. We got there and immediately had to go get Ben's packet. There were so many people and vendors. It was crazy! We met up with some friends at the Olive Garden for a carb fest and then went to our motel. I didn't sleep well that night. I think I was nervous for Ben and knew we had to get up early (5:30 am early). But we made it. They started the 10K, then the full marathon, and we met up with Ben before the half marathon. It was so cold! I had us all bundled up with sweaters and hats. I think I've turned in to a woos since being here in Georgia. Anyway, they had F-16's fly-by. Many those things are loud. I'm sitting there covering my ears not even thinking about my kids. It was loud, but really cool. They started the race and Ben was off. We then had 1.5 hours to just sit and wait. We waited around the finish line cheering everyone on. I got chills and a little emotional seeing how motivated people are. I saw a blind man being led by a friend. I saw people in wheelchairs being pushed by helpers. It was amazing! Then we saw Ben and his buds coming and we cheered them on. What an accomplishment! I'm so proud of Ben! It was awesome! He finished in 2:10:00 (2hours and about 10 minutes).

We left right after the race, Ben showered, then we drove back to Knoxville. We were going to stop in Gatlinburg but by then we all just wanted to get home. The next day we drove only 3 hours to Greenville to visit the Meagher's. It was so fun to see them and they spoiled us with steak and corn for dinner and cookies and ice cream for dessert. It was so good to see them. The next we headed back for home. It was so good to be home after driving for 5 days straight. But it was well worth it!