Jodi's 1st Marathon

Here's Paeton the morning of Jodi's 1st marathon - Jodi had already left for the race with his dad and his friend John who was running with him. We were eating a quick breakfast and getting ready to go.

Grandma Ulrich and Paeton waiting for the race to begin. It was SO cold!

Paeton all bundled up.

Oshkosh Half Marathon start line.

Paeton and I ready to cheer on daddy.

Can I just say I LOVE this picture??!!! We were standing on the sidewalk watching the start of the race and Mark (Jodi's dad) yelled there he is! I snapped the picture without even knowing what I was going to get and I got this incredible picture of Jodi with a huge smile on his face.

Jodi rounding the bend at the 6 mile marker - he's the one in all black to the right of the girl. But let's not focus on the fact that he's behind a girl; he'll get mad at me :)

Jodi coming off the bridge ready to hit the 10 mile marker.

Jodi just passing the 10 mile marker - we were cheering so loud for him! Paeton couldn't understand why dad was running away every time we saw him :)

Jodi completed the marathon in one hour, 39 minutes and 48 seconds. They announced his name as he crossed the finish line and I couldn't have been more proud. Jodi has NEVER been a runner - he likes to be active and play sports but never in a million years would I have imagined him doing distance running. He made the decision just after Christmas to run this half marathon with his long time good friend John. He trained for just about 4 months and it all paid off. Jodi was the 156th runner to cross the finish line out of 1500 total runners. He averaged a 7:37 mile.

Paeton was excited to see daddy and get out of stroller after almost 2 hours of being couped up. She loved running around the ampitheater where the finish line was. I made her the t-shirt she's wearing that says 'Go Dad Go!'

She's just having so much fun!

Grandpa Ulrich lifting her up so she could see the other runners finishing and all the balloons.

Jodi and his buddy John after the race. These two have always had a very 'friendly competitive' spirit between them simply meaning they are great friends but they push each other to do better. John was behind Jodi the entire race, caught up to him at 12 1/2 miles and ended up beating him by about 30 seconds.

Here's me with Brooke, John's wife after the race. Brooke put out a fabulous lunch spread for us afterwards at their house - it was so yummy.

And here's Paeton after taking a 3 hour nap at John and Brooke's house playing with Roxy and all her toys.

What a great day!