He did it!!!

Yes, apparently pigs CAN fly, and Brian completed the flying pig marathon yesterday, his first (and only?) 26.2 mile race. There's just something very emotional about marathons: it's the people of all ages and backgrounds who come out to give it a try, the thousands of friends and family members who come out to support them, and the way an entire city bends over backwards to allow the runners to safely complete the 26.2. I've watched a few marathons before, even participated in one on a relay team before (don't be impressed, my leg was only 5K), but this one was especially neat to see, having watched Brian complete all that training for so many months, and having a little more of an idea what it takes, and how badly it hurts, to do it. So I was a little choked up seeing Brian and JT approaching the finish line, 5 hours after they started, still running and giving it all they had. (you can look up official results here)

Several people kept telling Brian: "what? you're doing cincinnati? oh my gosh, it's SO hilly." But he kept telling himself it wouldn't be that bad, maybe just to keep his spirits up. But afterwards he admits, it was awfully hilly, especially compared to the very flat grounds on which they trained. And of course, he reports hitting that infamous "wall" around 20 miles, in which you really feel that there isn't any way you could possibly continue, but you must, because you've come this far. But they did it, they conquered, and then they had birthday cake.

It was our neice Carrie's 3rd birthday yesterday, so after a morning of cheering on Uncle Brian (complete with signage), we joined friends and family to wish her a happy 3rd. Brian and JT sat back and we brought them burgers however they liked them.

So today Brian's sore, but managed to go into work for a bit. I know he'd appreciate your congratulations the next time you see him. I'm really proud of him for this tremendous accomplishment.

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On a scary and tragic note, apparently one of the runners of the half-marathon died at the finish line. There isn't much information about it yet, but gosh, how sad.

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Unrelated funny Katy story:

Recently she's been playing with magnets on the fridge. The only kind she's strong enough to take off are those really flimsy ones that you get for free with emergency numbers on them or whatever. So she takes them off and puts them back on, and I thought it was hilarious when she started trying to put them on other surfaces, such as the cabinets and the wall, looking confused when she let go and they fell to the floor. So this morning she's doing this, and she looks thrilled to discover that the magnets do indeed stick to the stove! How exciting! So she decides to try another surface, and brings a magnet over to me and holds it up to my leg, looking disappointed when it didn't stick. I laughed and thought: that's one of those difficult life lessons to learn. Mommy can do a lot of things, but she's not magnetic.