Fargo Marathon

Sam has long had the dream to run the Boston Marathon. In order to qualify, he would have to run another marathon under three hours and five minutes. He registered for the Fargo Marathon last September and it seemed so far away. I still had to get through an entire pregnancy. Running through the winter was really difficult and his only option was to run in the cold, dark nights or to go to the gym. Treadmill running is not great for training for marathons. Eventually the weather warmed up and he was able to get a few good, long runs done outside.

The day before the marathon, Sam took the day off of work. We were on the road by 10am. It is a six hour drive to Fargo. But that does not account for three kids, one of whom was only a month old. We only had to pull over once for Declan. Sam played with Alex and Edison while Declan nursed. Driving with these kids can be pretty entertaining. As we drove through Velva, ND, Alex said, "Is this Hong Kong?"

When we got to the Fargodome, Sam got his packet, bought some Gu, and then we wandered around.

There were port-a-potties everywhere!

We eventually left the Fargodome and went to Olive Garden so Sam could carbo-load. It was packed with people getting ready for the race. We had to wait for almost an hour and we didn't sit down until 8pm. The boys kept it together for the most part though. I think they were just happy to be out of the car.

We went to the hotel and got the boys in bed by 10pm. I planned to stay up and shower but I accidentally fell asleep while I was trying to pretend I was sleeping so the boys would go to sleep. Declan had been asleep in his carseat all except for the three times he woke up to eat. I missed him so much so I snuggled with him all night.

Marathon day! Our alarms went off at 6:30am, we hurried to get dressed, eat breakfast, then drive to the Fargodome. I dropped off Sam at the door and then parked far, far away.

There wasn't anywhere to go in the Fargodome with the stroller. They had every area blocked off. They told me to leave the stroller and go sit down. But I hadn't brought anything else to carry Declan in. After 30 minutes of blocking the stairs, I finally got permission to sit in the ADA section. I was feeling handicapped, so it ended up being perfect. The boys weren't behaving but they were more contained.

I should have brought the marker because I wanted to make a new poster that said, "Let's trade. Next time you watch the kids."

There were 6,000 half marathoners. I watched most of them finish. There were quite a few half marathoners who ended after the leading marathoners. Even though they started 45 minutes earlier and were running half the distance. Once again, I was totally impressed by these marathoners. There has got to be something wrong with these peoples' heads.

Sam started off strong. He was on pace to finish around three hours. I was so thrilled. I couldn't believe when they announced that the leading marathoner was at mile 17 and Sam was at 13.5. It is insane how fast people can run!

We were able to track Sam's progress on my phone. I knew he was getting close to finish, and the Boston Qualifying time had passed. I teared up a little bit because it had been such a long road for Sam and I really wanted this to work out for him. But it didn't. As Sam got closer, Edison was about to pass out. He was so tired. I finally got him to go to sleep but then I tried to set him down. He was hysterical. Poor kid.

Alex was very excited. He was holding the sign for 15 minutes and kept cheering for every person wearing green shorts.

I wanted to travel to different points to cheer on Sam but it just seemed so difficult to move around with three kids. So I just stole pictures. Yep.

Although Sam had realized around mile 18 that he wasn't going to qualify for Boston, he still came in strong at the end! He has decided that this was his last marathon. Training for them is too time consuming and he doesn't like running enough to put that much time or effort into it. Sam still does not consider himself a runner.

It took a while for us to meet up because Sam's phone had died at 24.5 miles. Once we did find each other, we hung out for a little while I fed Declan and the boys took turns wearing Daddy's medal.

We started the drive home at 2pm. I drove from Fargo to Minot because Sam's "feet hurt." Edison didn't want to hear his excuses.

We ate dinner in Minot, and were home by 8pm.