I did it!

Here I am on the course, pretty focused!

Just approaching the FINISH line, never been so relieved!

Everyone gets a medal!

Hello friends and family! I can say I did it! I am a half marathon finisher!
Here is a little look into the weekend:
I have a friend from Owosso named Rebecca who lives downtown Detroit so I emailed her last week to see if I could use her parking pass for the day and she offered to let me stay at her place. So, Burton and I headed down Saturday around 5 to COBO to get my packet and check in to the race. COBO was also a really cool experience with several booths set up for other races and gear etc. It was fun! We went back to Rebecca's and were off to find a place to eat that I could carb load. Detroit didn't seem so busy, but all the restaurants were. Rebecca wanted to take us to a spot she loves, but when we went there, it was gone. So, next we walked to a couple other places, looked at the menu and thought there wasn't anything we wanted. So, we were on to the Ren Cen to Andiamo and they were on a 2 hour wait. At this point, we were all starving, so Rebecca took us to another one of her favorite places right by her place. It was a really cool restaurant that has been open since the 1930's and stayed open during the Prohibition as a Speakeasy. We love places like that with a story. Good food and we treated Rebecca for helping us out and letting me stay. Otherwise, BW was going to have to get up at 5:30 am to take me there! He was most grateful, haha! After dinner, Burton left and I hit the hay to rest for the morning. I didn't sleep so well because I was too excited and nervous, though.
I got up around 5:45 am and had some breakfast and got myself ready to go! I walked out of Rebecca's building and there were about 6 other marathoners walking by there too so I just followed them to the start!
It was freezing at 6:40 am, but the amount of people and things all around made me forget how cold I was and I just took it all in. I met a couple nice people and chatted with them before the race to take my mind off what I was about to endure.
The course was amazing, we went over the Ambassador Bridge and ran the streets of Windsor, came back through the tunnel which gave me a chance to warm up a bit then ran through some beautiful Detroit neighborhoods like Indian Village. It was way cool AND I am SO doing it again next year. Yes, the training was painful and time-consuming, but so worth it in the end. I cannot wait!
I finished the race in 2 hours and 23 minutes which was 17 minutes faster than I anticipated. It must have been all those positive thoughts from my family and friends. Thank you all for your support on this, I could not have done it without you special few who showed me so much support and were genuinely proud of my accomplishment! Burton and Rebecca missed my finish due to me coming in earlier than anticipated, but knowing they tried to get there and were thinking of me meant a ton!
Also, I want to send a shout out to Kate's fiance Gary. He is also a half marathon finisher and did it 10 mins faster than he thought he could! Way to go Gary!