I DID IT! I finished the half marathon (13.1 miles) this year (Jan. 11, 2004) and received a Donald Duck medal. It took me 3 hours and 13 minutes.

I walk/ran the first 11 1/2 miles and then I walked most of the end because my right knee was killing me. Unfortunately my best friend, Kim, was not able to do it this year, but she was with me in spirit. She also crossed the finish line with me on my cell phone!

To see pictures from the marathon go to the Photo section. There is also a link to some pictures on the Links page. To see how much I raised for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, check out my donations page.

Thank you to everyone for your support, through prayers and donations. I could not have done this without ALL of you!

**Please read below to find out how I did last year at the Disney Marathon.

I DID IT!

I completed my first marathon on January 12, 2003 at Disney World! What an awesome and memorable experience! I can't even explain the feeling when I crossed the finish line with my best friend Kim.

We did it in 6 hours and 52 minutes and you had to do it in 7 hours! We walk/ran the first 17 1/2 miles and then we walked the last 9. Of course we stopped and took pictures with every character we saw (which was a lot). Kim and I ran it with my friend, Amy, who I met through my training here in Maryland. Amy went ahead of us around 15 1/2 miles and finished 20 minutes before. She was waiting for us at the finish line though.

It was kind of funny (well now it is - it wasn't then) we each had pains (knee, head, feet, etc.) and one person would stop hurting and the next person would start. We were passing the pain around. But by the end, I think we were all in pain, EVERYWHERE! I had some trouble with my knee throughout, but it was off and on so I could handle it. Kim had problems with her foot and Amy got her knee wrapped. We had tons of blisters on our feet by the end.

I would definitely do it again even with all the pain though. It was one of the best experiences of my life! I have added a picture of Kim and I at the finish. If you go under Photos and click on The Marathon you can see it. There are more pictures at: http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=2192&BIB=14663&S=30

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and donations. I couldn't have done it without you!