The Final Stretch

After we all finished our 2nd leg, it was time for lunch. We found ourselves on Ramrod Key at a nice tiki bar (Boondock's) with a good food and great service. We all drank our weight in lemon water and I chose onion rings. I knew it wasn't going to be very long until my final run and I didn't want to eat a full meal. I probably shouldn't have chosen deep fried onions with a chipotle sauce, but they were delicious and there was plenty to share.

my Edith Ann moment

Before we knew it it was time to get to the 30th and final exchange between Van #1 and Van #2. Jen had an awesome third leg and handed off to me between 4 and 5 pm. I can't remember. Isn't that just sad? It's on my Garmin. I have to say this: If you ever get the chance, fight tooth and nail for a runner position where your legs descend in distance! I'm not sure if it's a fluke, but mine went from 8 to 6 to 2 miles. Once you're done with the 1st horrific hot and humid long run, it's all downhill from there! What was a very pleasant surprise was when I looked down at my watch after only about 3/4 of a mile, up ahead, I saw the ONE MILE TO GO marker!!! EVERY leg should be like that! So, there's 100 legs in a Ragnar. It could work!

My third leg was my best of the three runs in the 28 hours since my start. It was still hot and sunny, but it was my victory lap. I think I had a goofy smile plastered on my face the entire time. I was talking to other runners, lip syncing to my running playlist... how fitting that I was listening to 'Some Nights' by Fun, and I hear the line "Who the f*ck wants to die alone all dried up in the desert dun?" Made me laugh out loud. I knew I wasn't going to die and in just 21 minutes and change, I was done. I didn't have time to be sad since we had to keep moving our runners down the course and ultimately to the finish line.

Captain Awesome ready for our final leg!!!

We all saw John off on his 6 mile leg and dashed to the finish line for a good parking spot since we had to meet up with Van #1 for the ultimate moment we all envisioned, crossing the finish line. I saw my Charlie for the 1st time in about 38 hours. I missed him. I really wish he could have experienced it all with me. Trying to put it all into words just isn't enough. Even now, after three blog posts, I haven't covered a smidge of what we were all thinking and feeling out there. The hysterical stories we have about the conversations and hyjinks that ensued didn't even all make it to film. We'll have to rely on each other to remember it all.

The eleven of us waited anxiously to see that superhero turn the corner to meet him and cross the finish line as a team. It felt like forever scanning the horizon for that orange blur! And then we see John, we run up the road to greet him and then turn around and run across the finish line, behind John, hand in hand. It was incredible.

I don't know who this picture belongs to. Someone even managed to  get a screen shot of this from the Today show.

At the finish line, Rik received our medals and called us up, one by one, to put our prize around our neck. I felt like an Olympian. We did it. We did what we set out to do- have fun, stay safe and celebrate our successes at battling obesity. Just look at those smiling faces.