The Flu, A Marathon and Hurricane Sandy

A few days before Katie and I went down to Washington, D.C. to run the Marine Corps Marathon I sent her a text that went some thing like this:

"So how about this hurricane heading for us?"

Her reply was something like this:

"What hurricane?"

So began the adventure- what is bound the be the first of many with Miss Chisholm. We made it to DC without any issue and enjoyed a couple of days with good friends. On race day we made our way to the Pentagon with moments to spare. I knew the marathon might be out of my reach as I was still recovering from a nasty bout of the actual flu (not a cold mimicking the flu- the actual tested positive in the ED with a fever of 104 degrees kind of flu).  I made a last minute decision to run the 10k so I could at least finish a race, but it was a bit of a bitter pill to swallow. Katie did an amazing job on a sore knee and finished all 26.2 miles like a champ.

We were stranded in DC for a day by the storm, and the real adventure was trying to get back to Brooklyn on Monday after Sandy hit. But we did...thanks to our travel chutzpah and some well timed pit stops. Ten hours, some pizza and a couple of excellent beers later and I was on my way home to Vermont.

But the real purpose of this post is to thank everyone who donated to TAPS in memory of Bryon Lane and in support of my run. I was overwhelmed but the number of people who honored his memory by donating to an organization that is committed to helping survivors of military losses. You all are my heroes and I am very grateful for your support.

I have many races planned for the year ahead and Katie and I are venturing into the world of triathlons but the Marine Corps Marathon will always hold special meaning for me and I hope I can make it back there next year and cross that finish line for Bry.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.