The County Marathon

For the past few months, Stephen and I had been training for our first Full and Half marathons (respectively). We started out feeling extremely motivated but then as the summer’s end neared and the days became heavy and humid, we both found ourselves struggling to run.  By the time that the weather cooled we were forcing ourselves to train. What kept us training was that we weren’t running for ourselves – we were running in honour of Lauren and the CLSC Lac-Saint-Louis & Pierrefonds foundation.

We ran on October 6th 2013 in the Picton County Marathon.

Stephen and I woke that morning to a dark sky and rain – perfect conditions for a Marathon 🙂 I snuggled in bed for an extra hour with our Lauren while Stephen headed to the marathon starting line. By the time his sister Marlena and I were headed to the race with our friends Jonathan and Kelly, Stephen had just begun his run.

It was raining but it seemed to be letting up, it actually stopped for a short while when we were getting ready for our half marathon to start. As if the rain was on a timer, it picked up just as the half marathon began, within an hour it was raining so hard that I had to swipe water off of my eyes to see. Nonetheless it was a really beautiful run. I remember at one point in the race watching a single red maple leaf twirl down slowly in the air before me, finally landing and the shiny wet asphalt and thinking to myself how it was like something in a movie. (side note: Isn’t it strange how we often equate things of beauty to a movie or painting – real life is spectacular!)

The course had us running through an amazingly beautiful area, we ran past a beach area, woods, cute towns. It was so lovely and scenic that even in a downpour it could be appreciated.

The first few kilometres passed well, I jogged a slow and steady pace out of fear that I would burn out early. Just before reaching my seventh kilometre I noticed a friendly face next to me. Stephen had caught up to me, I was so excited! We held hands for a moment, then I wished him luck for his finish. I watched him run ahead for a few seconds, at which point I decided to pick up my pace so that I  could catch up to him and give him a kiss for good luck. The next five km were easy as Stephen was still in view ahead of me, it felt motivating to see him. By the twelfth kilometre he was too far ahead to see.

The rest of the race went by pretty well. At my seventeenth km I tried to take a break and walk for a few minutes – this was a brutal mistake. The second I slowed down my muscles started to scream, muscles I didn’t even know I had pulled and tightened. So after about twenty seconds I realized that I would have to continue to jog it out or I wouldn’t be able to finish.

In the end, Stephen and I both finished our races with huge smiles. We couldn’t wait to get home and see our real champion of the day – Lauren!

It was a wonderful experience, and we were so moved by all of the support that we received. We broke our goal of raising $2,500 and came in over $3,200 for the amazing CLSC Lac St Louis and Pierrefonds foundation, with funds going to palliative care. This money will go to help our family as well as others struggling with terrible circumstances in our area. We have been so appreciative and thankful for their help and are excited to be able to raise money for them.

We will be submitting a list of donors to the CLSC this month, and thank you again for your encouragement and support!

Holding the real champion of the day! Lauren was so happy that Daddy and Mommy did such a great job in finishing the race.