It really is Avon’s fault. They moved their 39 mile walk to Santa Barbara. I did the walk two years in a row. It’s a marathon the first day and a half marathon the 2nd day. Just when you get your butt kicked after walking 26.2 miles, you have to turn around, sore and blistered and walk another 13.1 miles the next day. Sounds like fun, right? Sounds like something you’d be dying to do…well I did look forward to it. Not only do you raise funds for a good cause, it also helped me lose a pants size 2 years ago, as well as make an awesome friend last year. But they moved the event. What do I do now?

It sounded like a good idea at the time: I’ll do a half marathon. After all, 13.1 miles should be a piece of cake compared to 39 miles. I asked Danny if he wanted to do it with me. Say yes and you’re in. Say no and I do it without you. What could he say? He was in. He would do it to celebrate a “big” birthday. Sooo – what if any of our friends wanted to join in the fun? To my surprise, Karen, Cliff, Nicole, Monica, Carol, Don, Stephanie and Alex answered the call. (Brad and Nate were signed up as well, but ended up not being able to make it.) Wow, all those people are going to do this with us? Then why not really celebrate Danny’s birthday too!

We got up at 3:15 am last Sunday morning. Drove to Disneyland and waited around with 14,000 other people to do the Disney Half Marathon. We registered as walkers so our corral was so far back we were on Ball Ave. (To non-locals, this is far!) We didn’t even see the starting line until 6:31 and the official clock started at 6:00. All the others ended up making their way into a closer corral, so Danny and I were on our own. We met a nice gal from Alabama, doing the Disney Coast to Coast. As she put it, it’s all about the plastic blink – the medals they give. She loved the saying on my shirt: If found on ground, drag to the finish line.

And finally we were off. Disney really knows how to throw a party – even if you’re running through it. They had music, characters, bands, cheerleaders, mariachis and even hula dancers (each area had a theme). Anything to keep your mind off the fact that 13.1 miles is really, really long! After winding through CA Adventure and Disneyland, we hit the streets of Anaheim, winding around The Honda Center, and into Angel Stadium. By that time, (mile 9) we were actually on the way back to Disneyland. We caught up with the rest of the gang, minus those fast kids. Danny and I did more running than we ever did in training. I had to hold the old guy back. Save it, save it…it’s a long way, you’ll thank me at the end.

By mile 11, we’d pretty much had it with running. Walking and limping was more like it, although Karen and I did make a run for it at the end. Two show offs or just two old gals being stubborn – I’ll let you make the call. But we all did it together. Carol calls us “Forever Friends” and I have to tell you, the love and respect I felt for all of them at the moment, that was the first description that came to mind. Who else does things like this with you?

We made our way finally to collect our medals and get our pictures taken. We then went through a tent to find all the kids on the other side. We were proud of them and they were proud of us. Hugs all around. So it does get better – not only do you have Forever Friends, but all the children are part of the gang too. We talked and recouped and delayed on my part…see I have 40 people coming over to the house to surprise Danny for his birthday. He couldn’t figure out why everyone just headed their own way after such a great event. Surprise! After 5 hours of sleep, the party really didn’t end until later Sunday afternoon. Thanks to all of you who came out.

Normally after an event like this you joke and say what next? “We’re going to Disneyland!” In our case, we’ve already been there. So where are we going next? The Huntington Beach Half Marathon in Feb 6, 2011. Donald says we need to get more sense and sometimes I agree with him. Whose Bright Idea Was This Anyway?