Remembering OBX

This week Kelly and Chris are visiting from Greenville, NC.  They are both training for the OBX Marathon in November, their first full marathon, although they have run the half marathon in November and the Flying Pirate in April in the past.  Kelly ran 14 miles last week so she is well ahead of schedule, and is supported by a large supportive running group in Greenville.  We took her up Bearpen on Monday and showed her some of our favorite routes, and today she was joined by Chris and we showed them some more.  It made us grateful that we do not have to start running at 5:00 a.m. to avoid the heat as they do in Greenville.  And we are glad, too, that they will not go back and tell their running club that they have lost any ground in training.  In fact, we were hoping we would see a bear so she would have a real story to tell them.

Talking to them brought back memories for me of this great race that I have run three times (and the Flying Pirate four times).  They were well familiar with that iconic bridge to Manteo!  Truly, is there not a bridge somewhere in every marathon which every runner must cross over to get to the other side?  That hard, difficult climb to greatness, and the passage to another shore.  As the Tom Hanks character said in that baseball movie A League of Their Own, "It's supposed to be hard.  If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great."

Good luck to them both!  There are few experiences more meaningful to a distance runner than completing that first marathon, seeing that finish line suddenly appear around the corner in Manteo, friends cheering, knowing that you have done your very best!  May their training go well and may they have cool temperatures and a good day.