Saturday morning we slept in since the Expo didn't open until 11:00. When we got up we walked to the expo to pick up Mark's packet...quite different from the huge expo we just visited in Dallas the week before...but this was the first "Fayetteville Half Marathon" (although they do the Hogeye in April) and had less than 1,000 participants...so a lot smaller scale. But they just seem to be disorganized...it made me want to get people lined up in the right place and divided between "registration" and "pre-registered" but alas I had to step back, before my husband got really put out with my huffing and puffing. : )
It's was interesting that this was the first thing you saw as you entered the expo...I knew it was cold but...
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| Wind Chill 7 -- REALLY??!!?? |
It actually worked to my advantage that the packet pick-up went quickly. After a walk around the square and a stop in at Houndstooth the BEST store for Razorback t-shirts. We had time to go Christmas shopping in Rogers! Well..I went Christmas shopping, Mark was my chauffeur and sat in the car and either read his Kindle or napped. But hey...it worked out great for me, everyone likes front door service and not having to search for a parking place during the holidays. After I was worn out, we headed to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Abuelo's...I SO wish we had one in LR. LOVE that place.
After a stop at WalMart on the way back to Fayetteville we headed back to the hotel, where upon arrival I pitched a little hissy fit because there was NO WHERE for guests of the hotel to park. It was CRAZY in the area. The square was lit up for Christmas and it was beautiful, but made parking a nightmare. We finally kept driving around until a place on the street opened up...no way were we getting in the parking deck. Later that evening we bundled up and decided to walk down to Osegueara's...it is LaHacienda North! (Yes, we eat a lot of Mexican food...as my husband says, Mexicans eat it everyday!) After dinner we walked around the square, rather briskly I might add..it was so cold...but it was beautiful.
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| Where else do you find a Razorback on the carousel, except for Fayetteville, Arkansas! |
I tried to talk Mark into a carriage ride, but he wouldn't hear of it! I sure was thankful for my new furry boots.
The main reason Mark wanted to do this marathon was because the finish line was inside the new John McDonnell Field, one of the top outdoor track and field facilities in the nation.
Earlier in the week a friend of Mark's grandbaby, Lyla Elizabeth Threlkeld, passed away from birth complications and Mark decided he wanted to dedicate this run to her memory.
I can't tell you how cold it was...the temperature was 19 and the wind chill was 7 at the beginning of the race. About 15 minutes in, I saw Mark (here in the pic) and asked him how he was doing, he said he was COLD. This road had a pretty steep hill coming up and after the race Mark told me at that point he was cold and tired and wanted to quit, but then he thought of baby Lyla and pressed on to finish.
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| Coming into the John McDonnell Track & Field Complex - the home stretch! |
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| 2 hours and 30 minutes - Best time by 5 minutes! The clock on the right was for the 5K |
Thank goodness for the new Hog Hoodie we bought at WalMart the night before! Mark started out with the hood up and started sweating so he pulled it off...a little while later his head was cold so when he went to put it back on the sweat had frozen on his hood! He said when they got their water at the stations they had to break the ice before they could drink...when he went to drink his Gatorade from the bottle on his hip...it was slushy...now that's cold people!
Marathons the first two weekends of December following Thanksgiving put a toll on this girl to get ready for Christmas, considering my family's Christmas is the third weekend of December! Good thing I wasn't having to go into the office all day every day, or I don't think I could have pulled it off! We're going to have to nix one of the December events next year, or I'm going to have to be a lot better prepared for Christmas before we go!
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