Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Full Circle: Returning to Rocket City for my 28th Marathon

I am less than a month away from my next marathon--the Rocket City Marathon here in my hometown of Huntsville, Alabama.  This will be my fifth time to run Rocket City and my third time to pace it.  But this year's marathon marks a big "full circle" kind of moment for me---I am pacing the 3:45 group, hoping to get the same time I got in my first ever marathon here 11 years ago.

And my pacing partner?  None other than my husband, Rick!  We ran a little of my first Rocket City marathon together 11 years ago (as friends, we were not even dating at the time!), and now we will run together as a husband/wife pacing team.  I never would have believed we'd be doing this if you told me 11 years ago!  I just love how the Rocket City Marathon holds so many memories for me, and we will be making more in less than a month!  I am very thankful for the chance to pace with Rick and look forward to getting just under pace with his help this year (see my unsuccessful attempts at pacing below)!

Rocket City Marathon Huntsville, AL December 8, 2001 3:45:43




Rocket City Marathon  (#2) Huntsville, AL December 11, 2004 3:31:24 



Rocket City Marathon (#3) Huntsville, AL December 11, 2010 4:12:47 pacer for 4:15 group (read race report here)



Rocket City Marathon (#4) Huntsville, Alabama December 10, 2011 3:55:50 pacer for 3:55 (read race report here)

Do you have any races that hold many memories like this for you?  

Which marathon have you run multiple times and why?

1 comment:

  1. This is awesome! I lvoe that you and your husband are pacing it TOGETHER! And it really is full circle since the first time you ran it you ran a 3:45! With your experience there you are probably one of the best pacing candidates. I'm sure your runners will love having you two as their leaders!

    The race I have done the most is the Little Rock Race for the Cure but it is just a 5K. I have a feeling though that I will be doing Little Rock or St. Jude A LOT in the future since they are so close to home. I love supporting local races and they are much more convenient for the whole family. :-)

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