run fredericton run!

This is my 16th spring living in Fredericton so its hard to believe that until yesterday I had never made it out to the Fredericton Marathon. I suppose it's not that hard to believe when you consider that a) I typically consider running something to be done only in the event of a zombie attack and b) marathon Sunday seemed unthinkable after a marathon Saturday night. 

However having fully transitioned from night owl to early bird in recent years, I was up bright and early yesterday to take a stroll down to Queen Square to cheer on a few of my good friends who were running the 10k.  

The weather was drizzly and the temperatures chilly but it was impossible not to feel energized by the nearly 1300 runners participating in the various events.

Ignore the time behind him - the chips don't lie!  He came in at 59:45

I had so much fun cheering on people I knew and even people I didn't!  And I was especially proud of two of my best friends.  This was Denis' second year running the 10k and he came in just under his goal of an hour. 

Jilanna and Denis celebrate a job well done.

Jilanna, whose journey over the past two years has been inspiring, finished her first 10k.  After dropping 70 pounds from 2010 to 2011, Jilanna took up running in the fall of 2011.  She ran her first 5k on New Year's Day in honour of her late uncle Brian and yesterday she completed her first 10k.  I was so happy to be able to be there to cheer her on!

Leaving Jilanna to celebrate with her very proud husband Dave and her family, Denis and I headed to Cedar Tree to warm up and toast his successful run with the good coffee and plates of eggs and hummus.

Maybe it was all the endorphins in the air or the earliness of the hour but after the first batch of runners took off from the start line I texted my friend Lori to suggest that next year we do the 5k.  No zombies required.