nat [dot] waz: Be like Buddha

Chicago Marathon FINISHER!

6 Hours, 29 neighborhood and numerous gel packs later, Chicago Marathon 2008 is finished! The temp reached 84 degrees that day, and 33,000 runners participated.

A big thank you to all of my supporters for helping to make it happen. Adrienne and Dave made sure I was fueled at mile 9, Teri met up with me at mile 13 to run by my side through the hottest part of the race, I bumped into Rodrigo and Addy at mile 18 while grabbing more gel packs, and Rodrigo found me on the bridge and sprinted the last 200 meters with me (in his flip flops!). It was awesome!

And even more amazing is over $700 will be donated to Hope Runs, which will help its children's program in Tanzania and Kenya. Read more about it at www.hoperuns.org. And fittingly so, the male Kenyans dominated the race this year. Read the Tribune's coverage here.

Along with all the congrats and hugs and handshakes, a question I keep getting is will I do it again next year. If you asked me around mile 23, the answer would have been a exasperated, exhausted and angry " NO WAY!" But a month has passed, the pain wore off, so only more time will tell. Running is addictive so odds are, another marathon is on the horizon. :)

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Be like Buddha

Buddha teaches us to be grateful, right?

I received 2 more sponsors today: Kathy Smola, my Queen of Peace amie, gave $20. She also sponsored me back when I ran the marathon. Ms. StarryEyedd4U is a total rock star!

My aunt who lives in England, Rosemary Harrison, also donated. I saw her about a year ago when she came to Chicago with her husband David to meet and visit my grandparents for the very first time. It was a fun family reunion! Rosemary is a traveler and cultural connoisseur like myself (maybe that's where I get it) -- she traveled to India last summer and had a magnificent time. These are her pics from her trip!