26.2 miles in 3:29:26 (posted by Ann)

Can I just say WOW. Steve totally rocked his first ever marathon!! I signed us all up for updates at the quarter, half, three quarters and finish. When Don and I got the update on his first quarter it showed that he was running a pace that would have him finishing in 3:26:14, I was floored! He told me yesterday he'd be happy with anything under 4:30 . . . well, 3:26 is under 4:30, I guess!

We got a very nice offer from someone I work with who lives on the marathon route for us to come to their place to watch. Her condo is perfectly situated, the race goes up one side of her block, and then returns on the other side two miles later. So after we dropped Steve off this morning, we went to Kara's and waited for them to come by. Here's the view from her balcony once the race was in full swing. That's a lot of runners!!

There was a Gatorade/Water stop right beneath her condo, so here is the view straight down. All the green - Gatorade cups.

Now to the fun stuff. Here Steve is at 14 miles, running easy and having fun.

And at 16 miles, bopping to the drummers and still running easy.

Apparently, at 20 it got to be not so easy anymore, and he found a Nike Pace Runner who was targeting a 3:30 finish time and told him he needed help. According to Steve, this volunteer talked him through the last 6.2 miles. And he did it - look at his medal!

I think we've found Steve's event. I'm looking forward to more cities, and watching Steve run in more marathons. Right now, he's asleep and I'm sure he'll stay that way. His heart rate was still up around 120 three hours after the race was finished, so he needs to rest and recuperate.

What a day. Talk about digging deep, setting goals and working hard for them, not giving up . . . Don and I both have had our emotional moments today, knowing how much this means to Steve and how hard it was to accomplish. This was his idea, he trained all by himself, and to have him do so well is just - well, I'm so proud I think I might burst!