And the race begins

Thanks to my sweet friend Renee, I have so many photos from the race!!

I started the race at 7 a.m. and I think I was going a little fast.. yea I'd say. It just gets so exciting.. I probably kept a 8.45 min. pace for a few miles.. Then I saw the TNT tent and there was sweet COURTNEY and CANDY and KIM and AUSTIN and CATE and TRAVIS and NATALIE and all of the other TNT supporters!! Candy had a sign that said, Go JENNY!! I was sooooooooooooooooo happy to see them but Courtney didn't realize it was me until I ran right up to her and said, "HEY COURTNEY!!" It was so sweet to see them come out and cheer for us. I also ran by Leslie and Travis Ezelle's house and there they were standing out there cheering! I ran into them again in Belhaven and also Maggie and Christian Waddell were out there cheering in their yard as well. It was so cool. When they split the half marathoners and the full ones went on our long way... I was hurting so bad. The first half of the course was really brutal - the hills and the wind - it was awful. But once I hit Lakeland, it was pretty flat. I was soooooooo proud of the people who came out to support the runners. They were incredible... the volunteers, friends and family - it was awesome. I know most of y'all know that I train for these marathons through the Leukemia/Lymphoma society. This one was particularly special because of Renee's uncle who was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. I pinned a ribbon with his name on my jersey along with other many other names. I also wrote his name on my wrist band along with our 2 honored teammates that we run for - 6 year old Marganie Dumas and 2 year old Jake Craig. I ran down Lakeland and that's when I saw Renee's mom - I thought it was her but I wasn't sure. Then I saw her and I said, "Tata?" We of course started bawling! Then about mile 18 or so I saw sweet Renee and I started crying again! She was so sweet out there with the camera - I felt like a movie star! I also kept thinking about her uncle the entire time and the pain that he and his family has to endure. This was nothing I kept telling myself. But the support I got from my friends and family Saturday was unbelievable. And the support kept on coming. I saw Lulu, Libby and Steve at mile 20 and then I saw Sandy Cavett at mile 22 and then I came upon mile 23 where my sweet hubby was out there with the American Red Cross gang.