Heres' To You, the Spectators!

Have you ever run a Marathon?  If you have, you know the amount of time that goes into it, the weeks and weeks of training, the hours you put in on the road.  Dark cold mornings, or cold dark nights, you get it done.  Because you’re training, you’re trying to attain a goal, your goal being to complete 26.2 miles.  But lets fast forward past that to race day.  You’re laying out your gear for your run, pinning on your bib, maybe loading up your iPod with some motivational music.  Do you ever think about the spectators? They also have quite a job. They might not have been there with you day in and day out training, but every day they are pulling for you.

This past weekend I had the honor of running the NJ Marathon. I’ve been training for weeks, 30 to be exact. May 5 approached fast.  I head down to Long Branch, hoping for perfect weather. I checked in to a hotel at 8:00pm, my cousin Toni-Ann, Casey my daughter and myself mapped out the plan for the next day. We discussed where they will wait for me on the course, and what I will need. We even had a big pink star balloon so I could find them; it’s dizzying watching all those runners go by.

5:00am the alarm goes off, I hop out of bed and start getting ready.  6:00am I wake up my cousin Toni-Ann; she opens one eye and says ok. I’m up, lets go, she drops me at the start, it’s chilly. Now I wait for the 8am start.  Toni goes back to the hotel to wake up Casey and start their own marathon adventure.

8:00am the horn goes off and I start. I have to get to mile 9 because I know that is where they will be waiting for me with my water.  As I’m running, approaching mile nine, I see the balloon off in the distance and I smile. Okay, I made it this far and there they are, what a group: Toni-Ann, Casey, Patty, Jimmy, David and Ray. My “team” I like to call them.   Casey smiles at me, handing me my water.

“Go mom go!”  I pump my arms and off I go, and so do they.  They jump in their cars and race off to mile 17, which is not an easy task when roads are blocked off and you’re in a place you’re not familiar with. They cut past alleys and in and out of people’s driveways, but there they were at mile 17, waiting for me looking as if it were no big deal getting there.  Again, cheering, smiling and ready for the hand off of water and GU (GU is energy gel).

The spectators are endless on the sides of the roads all along the marathon route.  Holding signs, signs that say all different things, cheering on family members and friends.  One sign said, “Run stranger Run!”  Another said, “I tried running once it was horrible” (that one made me laugh out loud). There is always the “run forest run” sign. There were three blocks of signs with motivational quotes that kept me moving. Quotes from poets, athletes, song lyrics, etc.  I did enjoy the girl dressed as a banana jumping up and down yelling go 737 go! (That was my number).  The family that brought their couch out to watch on the side of the road!  Seeing them in front of their house at mile 16, then again near the finish line at mile 24, still sitting on the same couch, and high fiving me as I went past!

Through some more neighborhoods, around a beautiful lake, I battle some wind and head down the stretch, Mile 20… there it is that pink star I barely see it in the distance but it’s there, keep running.  As I approach mile 20, Ray and Jimmy each hand me a Gatorade and a water.  Patty is now running beside me, “You’re doing great. You look strong. Wow, you’re almost done, keep it up, go Chrissy go!” she says. Her energy is contagious. I get a second wind, with just 6 miles to go! The team again hops in their cars and races off to the finish.  They have been at every spot they said they would be standing, and waiting all day, and their spirit never wavered! The next 6 are tough, but I know that they are all going to be waiting for me, with others now.

My brothers Freddy and Scott, Joann, Cathy and my cousin Jeannie have joined. I cannot stop, I cannot let them down, and I have to finish.  Mile 21,22,23,24 and 25 seem like an eternity. At 25.5 I can see the finish line. And I can see that balloon, there they are, all of them, yelling, cheering running along the railing! They, along with hundreds of others have been up since dawn just so they can drop us off and race from mile to mile, only to “wait” hoping to see us pass for a few seconds, hoping they didn’t miss us; did they time it, right did we pass yet?   I’m sure its exhausting, all that jumping in and out of the car and the waiting around. 

But I have to tell you this. Those people, the spectators on the side of the road, the kids, the dogs, all of them, they are what keep us runners going. Personally, those beautiful people that traveled down to long branch just to hand me water and wave as I ran by, I hope they all know what an important part of my marathon experience they all are, for with out them I would have never made it to the finish. They are what keep me moving from point A to point B. It’s an amazing feeling having that kind of support love and friendship.  I want to say to you, “the spectator”, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for showing up, for cheering, and for keeping us all running!