Looking Ahead to the Mill Creek 1/2 Marathon Distance Classic

I am very excited to be participating in the Mill Creek 1/2 two weeks from tomorrow. Although, I think I am even more excited to be running it with a long time friend, running buddy, and "cuz". I was checking out the Cleveland Marathon's website last month and found a link to let you check registrations. I decided to put in Pittsburgh, PA since it is one of the bigger cities close to where I grew up. As I was scrolling down I saw a very familiar name..Michele. Of course Michele is a very common name. Now the Michele "Cuz" I know is 33 so I checked and sure enough the one registered is 33. I headed to facebook to see if any of my high school friends kept in touch with her (did I mention that we went to high school together and ran on the track and cross country teams?). As luck would have it, one of my friends was friends with her on myspace. I found Michele through myspace and sent her a message. I found out through her return message that she is in fact running the Cleveland Marathon. It is her first marathon (mine too) and she doesn't want to walk at all (me either) and ideally she would like to finish in 4 hours (me too)! So we had been emailing back and forth and I mentioned that I wanted to run the Mill Creek 1/2 but I really wanted someone to run it with. Without hesitation she said, "I'm free that weekend, I will run it with you". By the next morning we were both registered! Michele and I will both be getting into Youngstown early in the afternoon the day before the race. We plan to pick up our race packets, carb load (of course), and just catch up on say I don't know....the last 15 years or so. I honestly don't believe we have seen each other since she graduated from high school. I graduated in 1992 but would go back when I was free from college obligations and help coach/train the teams. It's funny how things work out, isn't it? Needless to say, I will be in Youngstown in two weeks, camera in hand, catching up with a great friend, runner, and "cuz" and of course enjoying 13.1!

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!