My First Marathon Support Gig

George and Me Before the 2011 City of Oaks

While I've volunteered at a marathon before, yesterday was my first experience of supporting a runner during a marathon. George was shooting to complete his first marathon, the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh, NC. To help me help him, he developed maps with mile markers and ETAs, and packed a bag of possible supplies for me to have at each stop. It was fun to see him at each stop, though I discovered how tiring it can be! My advice: people doing support need to get rest before the race too! I stopped in at the Cafe Carolina at Cameron Village in between support points, and I actually fell asleep in the restaurant! (Glad I woke up in time to get to the next location!)

I'm sad (for George) to say that he didn't quite make it to the end. He suffered calf cramps for about 10 miles (Holy Cow! TEN?!) before finally deciding to call it quits after 21 miles. He's bummed, of course, but otherwise doing okay. He plans to get lots of R&R today.

I continue to be very proud of George and his running, and hope he recovers quickly. He does plan to try another marathon sometime in the future.

Thanks to Ashby for taking the picture above of George and me before the race started!