THANK YOU!
It's done! My mother and I walked the 2004 Columbus Marathon in 5 hours, 37 minutes and 59 seconds. That's an average of just under 13 minutes/mile. Update! The walker division results are online.
Thank you so much for everyone who helped out. Thank you for the generous contributions, and especially thank you for those who came out to root us on. Team Palmer wouldn't be where we are today without your help! Things I have learned:
- Fighting cancer is a goal that touches almost everyone. The stories and emotions shared over the last few months are incredible. These were the inspiration required in the depths of the worst miles.
- Walking 26.2 miles is ridiculously painful.
- If an angel in the guise of a dear friend shows up at mile 25 handing out orange slices, you learn that:
- Orange slices are nice, but the smile and encouragement is nicer.
- Unless you're my mother, in which case you will promptly eat several of the orange slices and spend the last mile of the course bursting with energy. Extra slices will be given to exhausted runners after extracting a promise, "to never say another bad thing about a walker."
- Mothers will also take pity on their poor, strugglings sons and stop trying to sprint-walk to the finish line whilst expounding upon the virtues of orange slices.
- After walking 15 or so miles, our brains no longer functioned correctly. Long discussions were held every mile marker on our pace (which was remarkably consistent), even though we had a chart with every mile next to our "on target" times (thank you, Bob!).
- I am privelaged to know some of the most wonderful, generous people in the world.
Love and thanks to my Mother for starting me on this insanity, to my Father for oreo dispensing, coat catching and a million other support activities, to John, Rachel, Lisa and Mabry for walking with me every other week, to Jessica for the support all along and especially on race day (I'll even forgive you for those cursed orange slices), to Emily for the healing-chili (it's helping), to everyone who contributed along the way, and especially to all the people who have battled with cancer one way or another. $1,500 was a far more important goal then 26.6 miles.
Thank you,
Chris
$1,530 out of $1,500 raised!
