My kids were active in sports in junior high, but neither continued through high school. My older daughter, Natalie, took up running a few years back, and she recently participated in the Columbus Marathon -- running the half marathon for the first time.
I was very proud of her for even running, but even prouder when she finished. There were 2760 people in the half marathon, and she finished 378th. Among the 1696 females who ran, she finished 119th. And she was 26th out of 300 in her division, which means females in her age range.
Just as rewarding for me was the fact that several of my friends -- males in their 30's and early 40's -- ran, and Natalie beat all of them but one. A sampling: Natalie finished in 1 hour 48 minutes 26 seconds, an average of about 8:17 per mile. My friends, who shall remain anonymous for the purpose of this post, averaged anywhere from about 8:40 per mile all the way up to over 11 minutes per mile.
The picture is Natalie on the final stetch, about 200 yards from the finish. I was amazed that she was running full-stride, while the people around her looked like they were about to collapse.
She is now training for a marathon to benefit research for various blood cancers. Her note follows, and all you have to do is use the link at the end to contribute. Hey, it's the least you can do...
Dear Friends, Family, and Coworkers:
Please take a look at my Team in Training page. I will be running a half marathon in April and would not be asking you for money unless it were for a very good cause. I hope my page will explain that to you.
The way I see it: $1400 is a lot, but not that much to raise for such a good cause. If 70 people donated $20 each, I could achieve this goal. (Of course, if you want to donate more, that is also appreciated!) At any rate, please do not feel obligated to donate or be offended by this e-mail.
If you decide not to donate, please consider sending the e-mail on. Blood cancers touch more people than I realized before -- not just the patients, but their family and friends, too.
I will be more than happy to keep you updated on my training if you are interested.
Thank you for your consideration.
Best,
Natalie A. Gerhardstein
Want to donate or help? Simply go to the link below:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntcoh/tntcohNGerhar
NOTE!!! This isn't an actual link, you have to copy and paste it...
