Admiration!

My brother has an odd hobby; he runs marathons. He pushes his body to run solidly for 26.2 miles. And he does this roughly once a year. In order to run a marathon, he trains for months and probably runs 1000's of miles in that training process.


I just don't get it, but I'll do my best to cheer him on.


Even at the crack of dawn on a cold rainy morning.

I think my sister-in-law Merry is the only one looking happy in this picture. I don't think it's the thought of cheering on her hubby that is causing the smile, I think it has more to do with the fact that grandma and grandpa are watching her kids all.morning.long!

I didn't bring my good camera because I didn't want to trash it in the weather. Hey, I'll support my brother but not at the expense of ruining my "good" camera! I marked him above so you tell which one is him.

Note the spectators with their rain gear and umbrellas. We were all soaked to the skin by the end.

Finally, a dry spot in an underpass to wait for Eric. This is the first time he's run the St. Louis marathon and we were still figuring out the best spots to cheer him on (and how to get to those spots before he would pass!) Eric has run the Chicago marathon several times and we have a good route mapped out to see him several times during that course. We were unsure how it would work in St. Louis, but we all agree that we enjoyed this one.

At this point (about half way), I'd have been thinking "boy, this was a really stupid idea and I'm tired of running in wet shoes and wet clothes." Not Eric, he ran by with a smile (which I didn't capture because I had my crappy camera.)

.

And while I don't GET the whole marathon addiction, I'm so proud of my brother for running 26.2 miles in 3 hours and 9 minutes. A time that qualifies him to run in the Boston marathon.

It took forever to warm up my bones after standing in the rain all 3 hours and 9 minutes of his race, but it was all worth it to have these 2 little boys in town for the weekend!

Wow, I got to spend time with my nephews TWO times in a month and I loved every second.

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Congratulations, Eric, on a race well run! Now, can we offer to babysit these boys while you are in Boston?!? I think you and your wife need a good couples weekend; albeit a year from now.