My hubby (2T2) and I were going to do this race together but sadly he was shipped off to Afghanistan so with three weeks notice my mom decided to take his place. My mom had no concept of how far 42 kilometers was but she learned fast. This was her first marathon and her first race of any kind. I read in a recent race summary someone mentioned that they pack imodium - well all I have to say is thank you to whomever you are!! After 3 washrooms stops at the first 3 aid stations I took the imodium and it got me through the rest of the race. Mom had to stop at 12 k due to a large bad blister on the back of her heel so we put two bandaids on it and off we went again. So needless to say when I looked at my pace band we were behind but somehow we picked it up and finished right on time. Calgary puts on an excellent marathon and every 3 k there were aid stations and lots of entertainment through out the course. The roads in Bowness leading into the park were horrible so you really had to watch where you were running and remember to pick up your feet. The tounge in my runners kept moving and now my foot is quite tender and swollen at the top - very strange as it never happened before. Mom and I stuck it out together the whole way and it was an awesome experience overall if you put aside the blisters and stomach problems. I was pretty much finished at the 40k mark and I couldn't wait to get it over with. At 41k there is the biggest hill of the whole course but the good thing is that you get to run down itn and through the finish line! I would do this race again in a heartbeat! I only took 2 gatoraide cups during the race but took water at every station and drank all the water in my fuel belt - it was the perfect amount. I also figured that I would need 6 gels which was perfect as well. They had two gel stations at the 15K and the 30k mark.

Train!!!!! I am in so much pain, I can't even tell you where I hurt other than my entire lower body. Also, we had a big family feast for dinner the night before and I ate lots of Polish food that I don't normally eat which caused me problems in the morning. I just couldn't pass up my Grandma's cabbage rolls!

We walked a few blocks and did some stretches while we waited for my dad to pick us up. Sadly we had to wait over an hour because he was waiting for us at the finish line but we beat him to it. Mom was not impressed but I thought it was a very sweet of my Dad. He even took a picture of the finish line but sadly we aren't in it - lol.


Stomach problems, pain on top of the foot. I thought it would be my mom but she proved me wrong! I am so proud of her!


The food at the end was the worst I have seen for any race I've been in - all they had were bananas, watermelon and oranges. Maybe they had more for the other races but that was all that was there when we arrived? You could buy a hamburger but they were $2 and I didn't carry any money with me during the race and in all honesty I couldn't stomach one at that point.

I ordered Chuckwagon tickets with my marathon package (Mom opted out and I went with a friend) We left for the Stampede grounds in the late afternoon and the Chuckwagon/Grandstand show started at 8 p.m. I didn't get back home until close to 1:00 a.m. so it was a looong day but a great one.