I’m a little belated on this weekend recap but I needed yesterday to unwind and stepped away from the computer and the phone for a good majority of the day, so I’m bringing it to you today.

My weekend was spent up in Duluth, MN for the Grandma’s Marathon and Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon. I went to be a cheerleader for a bunch of my friends running in the half, and my brother Kevin, who was running his first ever marathon.

My mom and dad were also up there to help cheer everyone on, so Dana and I met up with them once we arrived in Duluth. We grabbed lunch, walked around Duluth, and took in the beauty of the city.

Aren’t my mom and dad the cutest?

It was extremely foggy the whole time we were there and the air was cool and humid. It’s always unbelievable to me that there can be that drastic of a weather difference just 2 1/2 hours north of where I live. It was a 30°F difference!

We walked by the finish line of the race and that really set-off my excitement for race day. Even though I wasn’t running in the race the next day, I felt like I was.

I slept terribly the night before the race. It was a combination of being in a new place (it always takes me a day to adjust), the excitement of the weekend and the race, and me feeling like I was going to be running in the race.

On race day, the runners all headed out very early to get to their start points, and the rest of us spectators geared up with our warm layers, rain coats, and umbrellas. The weather was in the 50’s, super foggy, misty, and some very light rain spattered in here and there. If I were a runner, I would have been extremely happy with this weather.

Dana and I were little mad mice throughout the day. We watched our friends running in the half-marathon run by at mile seven, and then drove closer to the finish line, parked, and ran our little legs off to the finish line to watch them finish.

Way to go Nate!

Adam!

And Matt!

And Brendan, Jasen, Jessie, Annie and Casey and of course all of you other amazing runners out there too! I was so proud of each and every runner and am really itching to get out there next year and run the half.

After we watched our friends finish the half, we made our way over to mile 17 of the full marathon that Kevin was running. Grandma’s had this neat system set up so that you could get text updates of certain runners so that you knew when the reached different mile markers. This helped us gage when we needed to get over to mile 19 to see Kev go by. Since the weather wasn’t super peachy, it was nice to have this luxury so we didn’t have to be out in the rain all day.

We anxiously awaited his arrival, and screamed and cheered as he came by!

He was looking great and feeling pretty good. He said his stamina was fine, but his legs were starting to get tired. Go figure, he just ran 19 miles right? He gave the legs a little stretch while we gave our motivational words of wisdom. At this point he only had 7.2 miles to go. I say “only” as if it were just a short little run around the neighborhood. I can’t remember the last time I ran 7.2 miles. I guess it was probably last summer.

This photo looks like a advertisement for Nike does it not? Love it!

Anyway…after some stretching and hugs, he went back on his way towards the finish line. My mom, dad, Dana, and I did our drive and park and get to the finish bit again.

We weaseled our way into a fence spot and again anxiously awaited Kevin’s arrival. My brother Scott and his girlfriend Nicole came in to town to watch him finish too, and got there just in the nick of time. It was so great to see them!

We spotted Kev in his black pants and black top coming down the finish lane. We screamed and cheered to let him know we were there and got his attention. This time not all smiles like at mile 19, but he still managed to give us a smirk as he conjured up every last bit of energy he had to cross that finish line.

My emotions took over me. My heart was probably pounding so hard and beating so fast at the excitement of seeing him run towards the finish line. I can only imagine what 26.2 miles feels like. He finished his first marathon in excellent time and is already talking about doing another one. I am the proudest baby sister.

All of this spectating really inspired me to want to take on another half-marathon myself. My first one (and only one) was last summer and it was really rough, so I’d like to prove to myself that I can do it again and I’d like to be able to enjoy it a little more next time. I know my body needs its rest at this point in my life so it won’t be any time soon, but someday, I will be running another half and it’s going to be great.

Congratulations to all of the runners that ran in the Grandma’s Marathon and Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon this past weekend. I am proud of all of you and can’t wait to join you soon!