Water

As most of you know by now, it was a disapointing day for Brad and me in Chicago on Sunday. We were two of the thousands who were diverted off the course at about mile 16.5. The word for the day was water. I guess I should say lack thereof. If you want highlights on everything that went wrong you can go to the Chicago Tribune website. Or you can catch Brad's play-by-play at www.fitshump.blogspot.com. There is a link on this blog. There has been outcry from many runners about the events that transpired. As for the Shumpert's, we came prepared, we slept well, ate well, prayed, and showed up ready to conquer our goal. At the end of the day, we learned a lot about what it really means to train for a marathon and that just when you think its all about running the race, sometimes its not. For instance, our experience was that there was no water at the very first two water stops. We knew we were in trouble and a pattern was developing. Since we are pretty resourceful, we found water in other ways. The generous citizens of Chicago came out in full force with ice, water in dixie cups, garden hoses, and encouragement. All the race participants around us were trying to get word back to the officials to "GET US SOME WATER" only to find out after it was all over with that the official public response was that "...there was no problem with fluid supplies" but rather that "...the runners should have been more prepared and that the runners were not only consuming the fluids but were also cooling themselves with them". Well, I don't know about the rest of the country, but that is what we runners here in the south always do. It's how we train. You have to cool yourself internally and externally to be able to hold up in the kind of conditions we train in. After all was said and done, Brad and I calmed ourselves down by being grateful that we were possibly rescued from a much worse fate and that the real goal achieved here was that we accomplished something together in the midst of full time jobs, 2 children, and my Dad's illness. We have grown closer as a couple and that is what is most important. We have some pretty good war stories to tell and we were part of history. We will put all the newpapers and Chicago Marathon parafanalia in a box and someday when our children ask about it, we will recall the day's events. But for now, it is time to lay it to rest and move on to the next race! That's the beauty of running, if you're lucky there's always next time!