OKC Memorial Marathon

It's one of those things, you know where you are when certain events in our history happened. On April 19, 1995, I was a senior in high school when I heard the news at lunchtime about the bombing in Oklahoma City. I was stunned as was the rest of the country. I mean this is in the heartland of the country, not one of the big cities, right?! Well, I knew that was what I thought. Since that time and I have now moved to Oklahoma, it's really a great city and a wonderful place to raise a family. They have an exceptional memorial that is heart-wrenching, but an awesome sight to see to see how people worked together to become resilient and a stronger community.

All this background leads to one of my accomplishments this year. I participated in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon on May 1, 2011. I ran the half-marathon....13.1 miles in the drizzling rain with the temperatures dropping, and hills that I didn't know were there, but it was one of the best experiences of my life. The runners numbers in the tens of thousands. 25,000 registered and I would guess that the majority ran and were not put off by the weather. Before the race started they spoke of the meaning of the marathon and why we run. We run to remember. They have a moment of silence for 168 seconds. It is amazing the quiet that occurred with that many people there. It is a run to remember. Some people ran in memory of someone who died in the Murrah Federal Building, I ran for me. I am so proud of myself being able to participate in a race that means so much. It is through this race that monies are earned to help with the upkeep of the memorial.

I would run this again and I hope to run other half-marathons to improve my time. What an amazing experience to have for my first ever half-marathon! It is something I will always remember.

"Remember Things in life will not always run smoothly. Sometimes we will be rising toward the heights - then all will seem to reverse itself and start downward. The great fact to remember is that the trend of civilization itself is forever upward, that a line drawn through the middle of the peaks and the valleys of the centuries always has an upward trend." ~ Endicott Peabody