Mother's Day Run

When I paid a visit to my (chatty) chiropractor a week ago, knowing Mother's Day was coming up, he asked if I had plans.

"My daughter is running a half marathon, and I'm going as her support team."

"Where is it?"

"Down in western Massachusetts."

"And what does the support team do?"

"I drive her there, wait around, cheer her when she comes in, and then we go out for Chinese food afterwards."

"Sounds pretty nice."

In fact, it was fabulous.  We met up at her house at 6:30, drove down the interstate to a spot where masses of cars were already parked and people were lining up to register for the Western Mass Mother's Day Half Marathon.  Soon enough, it was 8:00 and the race began--a 13.1-mile course along roads over hill and dale.  (Her goal was to better her time of just under two hours from her first such run, the Chicago Half Marathon.)

(Sorry, as a privacy issue, no photos of the runner herself.)

First, a rendering of the national anthem.

Then, they're off.

There they go!

As support team, I took appropriate photos, then sat in my car and read.  I knew it would take two hours ... that she'd finish around 10:00.  At 9:30 I shouldered her bag with its ice pack and water container and walked the quarter mile along the country road to the Finish Line to join the on-lookers.  The first runners were already coming in.  Mostly men--they with their longer strides.  Then more and more began coming as the rest of us whooped, hollered, cheered, and applauded.  It couldn't have been a prettier morning.

Looking down toward the finish line where you can just see a hint of orange cones.  (No runners in view at this point.)

Then, there she was, having just crested the hill, coming down toward the finish.  I found tears in my eyes as I clapped and called out her name.  Though she admitted that the run had felt "insanely long," she'd bettered her Chicago time by four minutes.

The finish line itself where all those who completed the course received a metal.  You can just make out the black pad on the road  (visible behind the car) that triggered each runner's chip as they crossed it, clocking their exact time.

We topped the morning off by driving to nearby Amherst and going out for dim sum, a favorite cuisine for us both!

A beautiful morning in Amherst ... and a great old vintage car

One of our dim sum dishes--shrimp har gow

I don't know when I'd seen such a pretty day.  But that's what May is like around here.  The perfect follow-up to a tough winter.  Blossoming trees, sunshine, blue skies, and temperatures in the 70's.  Both runner and support team had a great morning!  And, hey, congratulations kiddo!  All your training and prep work paid off!