Ads all around town...
Fall Foliage...Awesome?
A long ass sign...
The rest of it....
YUM! I snapped this picture before these people saw me taking a picture of them...more of the sign, I wanted.
A better picture of the sign without the people scarfing down their food...
Street sign...
The finish, the day before...
The H-artford Arch...
Official Sponsor
The bleachers, but ING approved.
Umm....focus camera...focus...oh I took that one on purpose of the finish line....BEAUTIFUL HUH?
There, that's the focused one of the finish line...
All the sponsors...
The picnic area...
And more...
They had these on the ground....cause green is the thing...
Orange...so ING...
Back of Port-o-Potties...
Front of Port-o-Potties...and they are green as well...nice foliage huh?
At the Hilton...
Goes Orange...ING!
Rachel with her ING sponsored Key Cards...SO COOL!
It works like this!
RUNN-ING & Sight See-ING together with Rachel Diamond...
WELCOME! HARTFORD IS WELCOMING US!
I had pain...
The small...very small...expo...
Carbo-load!
I'm racing to retirement...if I can make it there...my number is 46...
The sign in front of the expo...
and more signs...
Ok...marathon morning...with these guys in the fuzzy hats...No they did not run with them...
The finish arch!
The finish line...which I will see in 4 hours...
Morning...
HA! me...Amy took this picture....did I brush my teeth?
Streching out that IT band...HURTS!
A Gatorade Commercial...
Amy takes too many photos of me...
GRR! I'm tough!
The starting line...
Rachel's aunt took a picture of me, which I saw them at the start...
Amy's Photo: The guys in the fuzzy hats! They did the national anthem...
The Elite Start...yeah I'm with them...
more...
Then....the rest...
The famous photos...of feet!
LEGS! and shoes!
The sun is in our eyes...I can't see!
Damn it...turn off the sun!
More people...after the anthem was played...
AMY's Photo: The lead pack...
Some guy in the motorcycle...
From my view, the start of the race...and into the light!
I'm behind a first time marathoner....
round the horn and back into the city...
Oh...this is the gal that I had to chase after the whole entire race....she did not have a hump...that's a water bottle...DUH!
Beautiful Hartford....umm...yeah.
Here's her frollicking hair...
Around...the park...which shadow is mine?
These people are finishing the walk...or was it a 5 mile run? or whatever...
So lucky...I want to be on that side... See my shadow?
And they are finishing, and we still have about 26 miles to go....so unfair!
Through Hartford...
buildings....
I donno...this may have been a climb...
The town hall building...very historic...
Look! An American Flag! That was pretty cool....
And up and over the highway...umm yeah this was a climb...
But a nice beautiful climb...look at that!
ok....am I tired already? Yeah I think I am...calm down...smooth sailing.
And you can see all the rest of the people on top...they will be coming down and around...
A beutiful morning huh? The air was nice...
and so was the temperature...down Route 5 North I guess...
Through these small streets...
and more...
Some of these people are marathoners, some are half marathoners...until like mile 5...
A bad race predicted already...yes sir!
Look at the foliage...nice and beautiful!
I think I pass this guy ahead of me, but we stick together for most of the way...
Nice huh?
and more of this countryside...
crowds? what? Oh yes, this is because the relay is with us as well....
more roads...
The 3:10 Group...I let them pass me...
The leader's motorcade...
Here they are...
I let the 3:10 group go...
and they go....some will drop, and some will continue...
and we see other runners pass as I am on my way back...
and more runners...
Slower groups....
and more folliage...
at mile 12 or 13...almost half way...
ok...turn it on now...I have to catch those gals...the two ahead of me... (PSST! I never do...)
It's about Mile 18 or so...keep it coming...my juices are finally flowing!
Up hills and almost back toward Downtown Hartford..I think...
You can see it, but you can't reach it...yeah...still mile 20 or so...
This is about the mark of 20...nice park...keep those legs churning!
yeah that red sign...that's mile 20...so I have 6 more miles to go...uh! Are we done yet?
Enjoy the view...
nice huh?
That gal is still ahead of me...well that's the one with the bottle in back of her...
Doing ok....
up the ramp and back towards downtown Hartford...
Back over the bridge...
And the crowd...but where to next? We still have 5 more miles to go?
The cheering gets me going...up the hill...
And back out again? WHAT? and look at that hill... Mile 22...4 more to go...
Exhausted? Yes, I am cooked.
Hitting a rough patch on the road which I had tried to avoid...I nearly sprain my ankle, but continue on... That gal ahead of me...yeah she finishes infront of me as well...I try to chase her down...
But still behind...and this hill sucks!
As I gaze at seeing Hartford...and try to catch her...
and continue through the park...
Through...the park...
Nice...weather....and day...huh? Exhausted!
Up and around...where is the finish line?
I'm DONE! Well not yet, but exhausted!
Nice? Yeah it was pretty...but I didn't have time to enjoy it...
Up...and over...uh...we done yet with these hills?
Oh man...look at that one...this guy over here was part of that 3:10 group...guess it wasn't his day...
And back into the city...oh my...are we close to the finish line...
Nope...a tease, look at how far that golden dome is...that's where the finish line is at!
nice city...
though...the city...and back again...
and back to this turn again...where we all started....remember?
uh....me done....I'm just seeing this guy behind me...
ok...start up your engines....
last damn hill....and to the arch!
and through the arch...I think I pass this guy....
And...almost there....
ALMOST!
OKok...I'm going to sprint...then do my pirouette at the end...
Yeah me taking that picture....
and the sprint to the end...
WATER FOUNTAINS...amazing idea! So green!
More fountain pictures...
The golden dome!
Me and the water fountain...see it works!
Amy and I...this makes 3 marathons that Am and I have shared together...
Who am I on the phone with? My parents? sister? Girlfriend? Jamie?
Geez...so on top of things...
And more people...
I thought it would be a good idea....to....represent....ING
Run-ING...GET IT?
