Finally! All About Tucson ...

Hard to believe that last weekend some of us Chicks were at Tucson doing lots of running. Kim, Claire, Bridget and Susie did the half marathon. Kim, Claire and Bridget all finished together and I understand they improved by almost a half hour from PF Chang's last January. Susie (who we also call "Wind") was going for a top 10 finish in the women's overall. She was in the top 7 until about mile 9 when she had to take a little bathroom break. She ended up in 14th place in the women's overall competition and 3rd in her age group. She's definitely our competitor in the group and she is an inspiration to all of us. Heather, Renee, Syndie & Christina ran the marathon relay. They did a great job and it was wonderful seeing them along the course when Nikki and I ran the full marathon.

Nikki is likely still celebrating the completion of her first marathon. Congratulations Nikki! She is such a strong runner and her time is a little distorted by the fact that she ran with me through 21 miles of not feeling well. I think I got bitten by the flu bug and my marathon was much longer and harder than anticipated. I finished with a time not to my liking, but considering the circumstances, I was happy to finish. There are always more marathons to run. I was very happy that Syndie ran with Nikki to the finish and I'm sure that was a big boost on that last 5 mile stint after Susie and I (Susie met us at the 19 mile mark to run us to the finish) convinced her to go ahead and finish strong.

Overall, it was a good little road trip. We had a nice pre race dinner at NORTH and had a little birthday celebration for Heather.

Click on photos for a full size image.

Here's Susie sprinting through the finish line in the half marathon.

Heather, Christina, e, Nikki, Syndie and Susie. Kim, Claire and Bridget were M.I.A. In fact, I have no photos of them running the half. Apparently, they finished a bit sooner than Kim's spouse, Mark, anticipated and he missed them finishing. Renee had to head home right after her relay leg so we're missing her as well.

Renee finishing her leg of the relay team. Renee got to experience the marathon start with Nikki and I in the morning. I wish I had a photo of how pretty it was at sunrise at the start in Oracle.

Syndie running Nikki to the finish line.

Nikki crossing the finish line. Congratulations Nikki!


Christina bringing it home for the RC3 relay team.

Here I (e) am coming to the finish. It was good to have my running buddy there to run in with me. That was plan A all along and although we separated in the last 5 or 6 miles, we both finished it out and I'm very proud of Nikki for doing her first marathon. I think she may be doing this again. Whether you have a good day or a bad day running, there is always an emotional attachment to crossing that finishing line.

Relay chicks, Heather and Syndie.

Syndie with her son, Ryder and hubby, Scott. Ryder ran with his mom for quite a ways at the end of her relay leg. He's already a good soccer player and has lots of practice running back and forth on the field. How many soccer fields did you run at Tucson Ryder?

Christina and her brother Matt. Matt ran the half marathon in 1:18 placing him in the top 10 overall finishers. He is one speedy dude! Now that he's done Tucson once, he will be a contender to win in all if he gives it another go next year.

Nikki and Syndie happy to be done!

A little birthday cake for Heather at our pre race dinner at NORTH. Kim's kids (Brianna and Jason) were glad that her iron willpower left them with a good portion of chocolate cake.