Yesterday Derek and I ran the 32nd Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life so far, other than giving birth. It was quite an accomplishment, a personal goal that I had for this year. I am so thankful to God for giving me the health and stamina to do this. I am so pleased with my time as well. I did much better than I thought I would. My goal was to finish the race in 4:30, but I ended up finishing at 4:11 and 41 seconds. It was truly amazing running with all of the people there. There were 22,000 people running the race, and the whole time there were lots of people running with me. There were also lots of spectators cheering. And the marines were handing out the water and poweraide at the water stations. It was quite an experience. What an amazing feeling to see the finish line up ahead in the last mile and to actually finish! The most amazing thing was that Derek and I started together, but pretty much right away he ran ahead of me. The next time I saw him he was ahead of me at a turnaround point at mile 22. He was a good ten minutes ahead of me. Here is the amazing thing. When I crossed the finish line, I looked up and he was right there in front of me! I could not believe it! His time was 4:11 and 37 seconds, and my time was 4:11 and 41 seconds! He beat me by four seconds!! Well, I have a great goal for next time I run a marathon...to beat him!!