Marathon pictures...

I've been lazy about posting pictures from Merril's marathon, mostly because I didn't get a great one. Most are blurry or with a weird color so I think I'll just order from the race photographers. (They're seriously over priced but Merril will probably only run one of these things and I'd like to have at least one good picture.) So anyway, here's what I snapped from the race.

We picked a midway point to go and cheer. It was totally rainy on race day so the kids weren't real happy about that. Juliet was good for a while but got fussy.
Jack was pretty happy for about a half hour.

Maxine was kind of grumpy from the start and kept wondering where Daddy was. She really didn't want her picture taken! She was upset that her sign, which she'd spent hours making, was getting ruined in the rain. I'm sorry girlie! This melted into downright sobbing towards the end. Grandma did her best to keep the tears at bay.

After an hour of waiting, we were about to give up hope and figured we'd missed them. I was halfway to the car and talking to Merril's Dad when I spotted Merril and his brother, Jared. I had Juliet in my arms and RAN to try and snap a picture. I took one and then ran ahead to try and take another one. This is the best of the two but it's still blurry. (Merril's in the background in red and black, Jared is in the foreground in white and grey.) So I stood in the rain for an hour with my camera on and poised for the perfect shot and all I got was this. Oh well. So we packed it up and headed towards the finish line.

I dried pants and socks with the truck heater on the way into town. I stopped at a gas station for a hot chocolate and hot dogs for the kids. (Spirits were improving by now.) We drove to Merril's grandma's house and played around for about an hour and dried coats in the dryer. Then we headed to the finish line.

Merril's leg had started cramping up towards the end so Jared came in first.

Merril was a couple minutes behind Jared and was able to finish in just under 5 hours.

He's finally done.

It took forever to get through town and Merril said he wanted a burger and fries because he was starving! The burger joint was packed so by the time we pulled into the driveway, Merril had been sitting for about an hour and a half. He opened the door to get out of the truck and I said, "Hey wait! I'll come help you." He was like, "Oh, I think I'm good." Then he tried to swing his legs out and said, "I can't move."

After a shower and a nap, under 2 blankets because he was still cold, he was doing okay! He walked like Frankenstein for about 2 days but seemed pretty much back to normal after that. So there it is. I lament that there aren't clearer pictures but I'll take what I can get! Congratulations babe!