It was an eventful weekend across campus, it was time for our final athletic events! I spent the evening before the half marathon staring up at the girls dorm ceiling and downing as much water as my body could take, questioning if I could make it all the way. We were up and awake, well kind of awake, at5:10Saturday morning it was pitch black except a few van headlights and lights from the classrooms peering out into the darkness. I was feeling awfully nervous, wondering if I could even see the road ahead of me. Before I knew it we were off, there was no going back now I just had to go for it. There was help along the way every few miles I had cheerful, beaming, encouraging friends of mine with kind words and a Gatorade in hand. I felt my confidence rise as I traveled along the winding route. It was their support and my running partner Annie that kept me going. I refused to walk, I refused to stop, I ran and I ran.

[slideshow]

With three miles to go I doubted my abilities, surprisingly two of the miles passed and I was feeling alright. I had a little over a mile to go so I decided to give it all I had. I approached my last support station and my glowing peer Lauren approached me with caution as she handed me a glass of water and asked me how I was feeling. I was dizzy, exhausted, and ultimately out of gas. I could not reply to her, I was less than a half of a mile from the finish line and I couldn’t give her the reassurance that I was fine. I just ran, and they ran too. Cam ran to my right and Sam biked on my left. They had the confidence in me that I needed to finish strong. I approached the CEI bridge and there they were! My friend Paul dancing in the over sized Ride for Hope tee shirt that always leaves me giggling uncontrollably, side by side with Francisco and Felipe sweetly cheering me in. They ran every step across that bridge with me until I hit the end. I sprinted harder than I could even imagine and hit the flag pole, our finish line. Time: 2 hours 22 minutes and 22 seconds. That number seemed perfect to me, I was done and I was ecstatic. I am proud of each and every student and faculty that participated this weekend in the events. There is no one I would rather share this experience with. I can hardly get myself running a few miles, never did I think I could run 13 and I am excited to try again for a better time. Thank you to all of the support and my running team for pushing me beyond what I could ever dream to accomplish.