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Natalie's Half Marathon

By Jake Parrillo

Natalie is *way* too modest to come on our family blog and boast about her accomplishments, so I will do it for her!  (Sorry, Nat!)

A week back, Natalie finished up her first half marathon out in Oak Brook.  I couldn't be more proud of her and amazed by her effort.  She's redefined her limits through hard work, dedication, and plenty of miles in training.

Over Labor Day Weekend, Nat woke up early and got to the starting line before me the girls were up and about.  I rousted them both out of bed and armed with snacks and posters, we went down to the race to cheer on "Mama".  Ellie helped me color in the posters (with her crayons) and was ecstatic to be able to see her mama run by us as she held them up.

We decided to make one Nat-specific sign and one (more) fun one.  Ellie alternated between holding the fun one and then picked up the Nat-specific one when we knew she was approaching. Sadie even got in on the action by holding one of the signs by her stroller.  Both the girls really were great on that long, hot morning.



We were able to see Nat at three different points on the course.  We saw her early (near mile 2), middle (near mile 6) and at the end (Mile 12), so we (hopefully) helped encourage her - and all the other runners - to 'finish strong'!


Nat's mom and sister were even able to get out and cheer her on as she made her way through the course.  She had a ton of support that hopefully made the race seem just this/much shorter.

Look at that medal!  Pretty awesome.


Nat had a time in mind that she was working to beat and her training paid off.  She logged many, many miles on the Elmhurst Prairie Path this summer and was in top form for the race.  It is really remarkable how far she has come.  When she started, she was like many of us:  focusing on shorter distances and only participating in 5K races.  Now?  She's caught the bug, it seems and is thinking about another half-marathon (because she's only *half crazy*) and (gasp!) even a full marathon?!?

Congrats, Nattie from me and the girls.  I know you are too modest to share this story with the world (our family), but I'm not.  You earned this.

We know you worked hard and we were so happy to be able to share the day with you.

If you are reading this post in your email and can NOT see the slideshow below, click here to see ALL of the photos on our site.

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Comments

  1. vickiSeptember 11, 2013 at 2:54 PM

    Yeah! Way to go Natalie!

    ReplyDelete
  2. NatalieSeptember 13, 2013 at 8:03 AM

    Thanks for the sweet post, and for bringing the girls out to cheer me on. It definitely helped!

    ReplyDelete

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