My Throat's a Bit Sore, but for a Great Cause

Today London hosted the London Marathon. A bunch of us went to support the runners and I think we stood near the 3 miles-to-finish line. It was absolutely amazing! To keep my thoughts straight, I will write a list about the marathon.

1) The basics: 26.2 miles long, about 35,000 runners, usually takes about 3 hours or so to complete.
2) Many runners have their names written on their shirts so you can cheer for them by name.
3) Most popular names for boys: Steve, Dan, and Neil. Girls: Susan and Claire.
4) It was the best when you called a name and people smiled at you or said thanks. Amazing!
5) There were so many people dressed in costumes. We saw lots of tutus and wigs, as well as these crazy costumes: Barbie, rhinos, clowns, a tree, Spongebob, Superman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, Tigger, Bugs/Butterflies, a toilet, men dressed as girls, elephants, Elvis, flowers, and so much more. My personal favorite? Two guys dressed up as Pam Anderson and David Hasselhof in Baywatch - red suits and all. Absolutely hilarious!
6) It was so nice to see how many people came out to support the runners. Some people even came out with candy for the runners. It was so sweet.
7) It was so amazing to see people cheer for the people they knew in the race. There was one lady who ran alongside her son for a bit yelling "Go Sweetie! Yay Michael!" I think she was a Jewish mom and the boy was running for a Jewish organization.
8) So many different charities and organizations were represented. I hope they all got loads of money - they all deserve it.
9) The winner was a guy from Kenya who ran all 26 miles in 2 hours and 5 minutes. Want to know how fast he ran each mile? 4.7 minutes!!! Second place was an Ethiopian and third a Moroccan. The fastest female was from Germany and she finished in 2 hours, 22 minutes. There was also a wheelchair marathon. We saw a couple wheelchair racers. It was inspiring to see how hard they worked.
10) By the end of the hours we spent watching and cheering, our voices were sore and our hands red from clapping. However, in comparison to what these runners were doing, it was nothing.

It was an absolutely beautiful day - perfect for a marathon. I'm so glad we went to support the runners. I had a blast! It makes me want to do a marathon myself, though probably not one 26 miles in length. We'll see...