I Came.....I Saw.....I Spectated

The big day was here. The Houston Aramco Half Marathon and Chevron Marathon was upon us.


When I made the decision to not run this race I dreaded calling Andi to tell her.  We started this together and we planned to finish it together.  I knew she would be very understanding though, I just hoped she had the courage to still run it.  To my satisfaction she said "oh, well yeah, I am still running it."  I immediately told her I would be right there by her side at the beginning of the race, in the middle of the race and of course at the finish line.  Of course thinking to myself, "are you sure you can do this?  be at the race that you were supposed to run, that you deserved to run, and not cry the entire time?"  But it was may more important to me to be there and support a friend than to worry about a few tears.  Plus it will be neat to experience a race as a spectator and not a runner.  A running friend of mine, who is also injured, said, "oh Jaime, you will love it.  You will see how much they need for you to cheer them on, in their eyes."  She said she goes to races all the time to cheer the runners on, when she is not running, in cheerleading outfit and all. :)


As I watched the weather forecast for the race I thought, hmmmm.....is it better to run in the rain or spectate in the rain?  Chance of rain was 60%, it didn't look like there was any escaping it.  Luckily it wasn't predicted to be that cold.  My husband, who had been planning on coming the entire time, backed out when he realized he was going to have to sit in the rain for 3 hours.  But my daughter was all game so she woke up with me at 4:30am on Sunday to get ready and head downtown.


It was very important to me to be there with Andi before she started the race.  I knew her nerves would be shot and I was hoping to bring some calmness to her before the race.  She arrived at the race early enough to attend the Catholic mass so she was in there when I arrived.  To my surprise she came out very calm and collected.  She said she was very glad she had gone and that it really helped to settle her nerves.


Makayla and I left Andi as she headed to the starting line and drove to mile 4 where the Houston Food Bank had a hoopla station.  I raised money for the HFB in order to gain my entry into the race after I wasn't picked in the lottery, great organization.  I got lost trying to find where they were so Makayla and I had to walk a long way.  Luckily it wasn't raining yet.


During our very long walk to the hoopla station we walked along the street that the runners would be coming up soon.  And wouldn't you know, we start seeing the lead car heading toward us.  Wow....that didn't take long.  I thought it might be the wheelchair participants but instead it was the men leaders.  They ran RIGHT NEXT TO ME.  I almost felt like I was experiencing an epiphany.  It was SOOOOO neat to see them run.  I don't normally get to see these really fast runners.  They looked so great.  Like it was completely natural to run a 6 minute mile, or less, they looked like we do when we are walking.  The front women runners passed quickly after that.  Makayla and I just stood in awe.  I can't put into words how awesome that whole experience was.


We FINALLY found the hoopla station and we sat up our cheering section.  I was amazed at all of the runners.  We were set up at the bottom of a hill so you could get a very clear picture of the magnitude of this race, seeing all the runners coming down the hill.  I had three people I was looking for, and that I had made signs for.  Two co-workers and of course Andi.  It was so hard to see faces, there were so many people.  I saw Dylan first, he was in the middle of the herd, and I saw this little hand pop up and wave.  He caught me off guard.  "oh Dylan, yeah, go Dylan".  I fumbled for my sign to show him.  He smiled.  Later he said, "Thank you Jaime! It was awesome when I saw you cheering me on."

I missed the other co-worker, I must have had my back turned when he passed.  I almost missed Andi.  I didn't see her until she was right next to me handing me her jacket.  Did I mention there were a lot of people?  I ran with Andi for 1/4 of a mile, checking up on her seeing how she was hanging in there.  She looked great, smiling from ear to ear.  I gave her a few words of encouragement and saw her run off.  GO ANDI!  Makayla and I stayed at the hoopla station until the last runner ran by.  I cheered for an hour straight.  At this race they put the runners first name on the bib so you were able to actually urge people on by name.  That was really neat.  I liked being able to say, "Go Amy, you are looking good." or "Go Eddie, you are running strong."  yeah, this spectator thing isn't so bad.  Runners were actually thanking me for cheering them on.  Something I do when I run races, but never really realized how much it meant to the spectator until I was thanked. 


After the last runner ran by Makayla and I trekked back to the car and headed to mile 11.  It was the closest I could get to the end of the Half without getting into downtown.  By this time it was raining pretty good.  Makayla and I had to stay under the umbrella for a good portion of the time.  I felt like we waited forever for Andi to run by.  I know it probably wasn't that long but I was a little concerned about Andi since she hadn't really trained that much.  But then I saw her.  I ran to meet up with her.  We thought ahead and brought extra socks for her to change into and that is the first thing she said to me when she saw me, " I need the socks."  Her feet were soaking wet and she had blisters.  While she was changing the socks I did a checkup to see how she was doing.  She said, "you know, it actually isn't that hard.  I actually feel pretty good."  Well you go girl.  And she was off!  So Makayla and I made a mad dash to the finish line, we only have about 30 min (I told Andi to take her time) to find a parking spot and get to the finish line.

We barely made it as we dealt with traffic, etc. but we did end up seeing her cross the finish line, but from afar.  It was set up to where you couldn't really get that close.  But I cheered so loud she heard me and saw me cheering her on.  I was so SUPER PROUD of her.  She did it.  She crossed the finish line in 3 hours and 14 minutes.  As she says, she finished that race for both of us.  One of the only goals she has completed in life.  You go girl!  Can't wait for many more to come.

So, did I like being a spectator?  Yes, I REALLY did.  It was really neat to be on the other side.  I have a lot of respect for spectators that go out there and cheer for hours.  Plus I saw so many things I wouldn't have seen while running.  However, I am a runner.  I hope to not have to sit on the sideline for too many more races.  But if that is the hand I am dealt I will make the most of it and head out to cheer on the runners!