Route 66 Marathon Weekend
The weekend following the Mother Road 100, Steve was slated to run two back-to-back marathons in Tulsa, the Oklahoma Marathon on Saturday and the Route 66 Marathon on Sunday. At this point, even I was starting to think he might be a little over the edge.
Steve's brother Bill was coming in from Ft. Worth on Saturday afternoon with his family. They were staying at his mom's house, and we were scheduled to have Thanksgiving dinner there in the evening. Steve got up bright and early Saturday morning to do the Oklahoma marathon, and I took Madison to her grandma's later in the morning so I could go for a run at LaFortune Park.
We all met up at Pat's place later that day and had a fine Thanksgiving dinner with the whole family~ Bill, Sara & Ashley, Jeff & his girlfriend Stephanie, Steve, Madison & me, Pat & Tom. Pat really knocked herself out cooking, and everything was wonderful. Steve's family is pretty easy-going, and I really enjoy spending time with them, even though we don't seem to get together very often. After dinner we all came over here so they could see our house for the first time. We had a nice visit, and afterwards everyone except Steve and I went back to Pat's for the night.
The next morning, Steve was supposed to get up early again to do the Route 66 marathon. He woke up at around 5:30, turned to me and said, "I don't think I'm going to run today". Imagine that! He had turned in a slow time at the marathon the day before, as his muscles were still trying to recover from the MR100. By Sunday morning, he was hurting. He really wanted to run the Route 66, but both of us were afraid he would risk injury if he did. With the Las Vegas marathon coming up, the last thing he wanted was to have a forced layoff due to an injury. So we decided to go down to the marathon route and cheer for our friends instead.
Our friend and fellow TATUR, Diana Snyder, was running her first ever marathon, so Steve made signs that said, "Go Diana!" and "You Rock, Girl!", as well as one that said, "Taturs Rule!" that we could hold up for all the Taturs who were running. We decided to make it really fun and dress up a bit. Steve put on his overalls and his crazy hat hair, I donned my new leather cowgirl hat, we filled up a thermos with some hot coffee, and we were out the door.
Our first stop was at about the twelve mile mark. We set up our camping chairs, got out the signs, the camera and our noisemakers (a tambourine and a cabasa), and settled in to wait for Tatur activity. We cheered for everyone who came through, offering encouraging words, clapping and yelling. I'm sure everyone thought we were some kind of weirdos... I'm used to seeing Steve in his hat hair because he wears it for days on end at bluegrass festivals, but I guess it does look pretty crazy!
As soon as we spotted one of our Tatur friends, we jumped up and waved the signs, made noise, and danced around cheering wildly. And when we saw Diana with her entourage, we really went nuts! Ken Childress and Johnny Spriggs were running with her, and they held signs that said, "1st Time Marathoner", "Clap for Diana" and "Doesn't She Look Great?" I loved it! After she went by, we packed up and moved on to the next stop at about 96th street. We crossed over to the median, waited for Diana to come by again, and cheered her on when we saw her.
The next time we stopped, Steve backed the Suburban in, opened up all the doors, and started blasting the cd he made that morning especially for the marathon. It had all kinds of rock and roll music, college fight songs, and every version of 'Route 66' we could find on the internet! By this time, the runners were starting to recognize us (I wonder why?!?), and thanked us for supporting and entertaining them along the way. I saw Cindy Metcalf at this stop, and wondered how I had missed seeing her before. When Diana showed up this time, she asked me if I had any Tylenol. I didn't, and felt terrible about it. So when she got by us, we went to a convenience store and bought some.
We met Diana again on Peoria, and again we had our music playing for the runners. They were doing a short out-and-back loop, so I was able to give her some water and Tylenol on the way out and take the bottle from her on the way back. She still looked strong to me, and the finish line was getting closer, but she still had a long row to hoe. We decided to go on to the finish line and cheer everyone in.
When we got there, Brian, Dan and Charlie had already made it in. We saw Robin, Debbie, Marvin, Johnny, Kathy, Ken and Diana cross the finish line, along with many of the runners we had followed throughout the day out on the course and probably some other Taturs I've forgotten to mention here. We didn't know most of the runners we'd been cheering for by name, but we were pulling for them all the same. Once everyone we knew had made it in, we called it a day.
We missed seeing Bill and Sara again before they went back to Ft. Worth, but I think we were where we needed to be.
I've read Diana's subsequent race report, which filled in all the gaps (and made me cry). So now I know it wasn't as easy as she made it look, and I'm even more proud of her!
So Diana, if you're reading this... You rock, sister!
Congratulations to all the Taturs who ran the marathon(s). We're proud to know you!