November 4, 2025

sleepless nights months and weeks and days before the Big Day, tossing and turning and wondering whether or not everything would work out. lists made up, goldfish crackers, apples, peanuts, a few stolen Halloween treats packed in the snack bag to bring in the car. hotel rooms booked. all my chargers for my watch, ear buds and phone zip locked and ready to go. running clothes and shoes in the duffel bag, a change of clothes in a Walmart bag ready to change into afterwards. hugs and kisses and final waves good byes to David as I drove over to pick up Meghan and my mom, then pointing the car north to Kansas. welcome hugs from my brother and sister-in-law, questions answered and asked. race packets picked up and a thorough tour of my hometown with my girl. the race route gone over with my brother, realizing that he was a “laidback nervous” runner, not the calm and rational big brother I grew up with. long talks in the hotel room with Meghan. excitement building inside me as I tried to sleep the night before. scraping ice off the windshield at 5:30 the next morning and seeing our breath in the air, my mom making noises about needing an extra cup of coffee while I ran in a 7-11 for a bottle of Diet Coke for the ride over. finding a parking place, turning around in the front seat once parked to tell my mom that I get choked up at the start of races thinking about all of these people gathering together to celebrate running, how we’re all a bunch of silly people doing something silly. finally lining up at the start only to realize that my ear buds weren’t working and having to ditch them in a nearby trash can and having my phone play U2 for all to hear. the horn gets blown, we begin the shuffle to the starting mat and off we go, Meghan and mom and SIL all hollering and cheering for my brother (in the 2:00 pace group) and me (in the 2:15 pace group). a beautiful morning, sunshine turning the streets into technicolor , leftover fog rising from the river, breath from the runners around misting the air. a dog and his daddy running alongside me at one point, the dog spotting a squirrel and his daddy telling him, “no. no, no, no, NO!!”. around mile 6, I begin chit chatting with the pacer and wind up talking with him the rest of the race, chatting everything from KU sports, Arkansas sports, running hills, growing up in Lawrence, pointing out friends houses, my piano teacher’s house, where I learned to drive, waving to my childhood house as we trotted by it, then turning the corner onto Massachusetts street and seeing the finish line and the pacer telling me to go for it (after I thanked him for getting me through those last few miles) and pulling out all the stops for the final finish, grinning from ear to ear. calling David as soon as I got my medal, sounding like I was 5 years old I'm sure, as I told him, “I did it!! I did it!!” my brother coming up from behind and hugging me, the first of our group to find me (he finished with a time of 1:55. I'm so proud of him!). posing with him, my mom, then everyone getting together for a group picture. flying high the rest of the day, driving home while Meghan and Mom slept. then finally getting to hug David and replaying the whole weekend and race day with him.

I've never had such fun.