I FINISHED!!

The marathon is over! Not only did I finish, but I ran the 26.2 miles in just under 5 hours! This placed me 1544 out of 4689 that completed the full marathon -- which means I made it just at the cut off for the top 1/3 of finishers :-) I couldn't be happier with the results.

I owe much of my success in the race to my running partner Grace. We ran the whole thing together and she is one of the people that really carried me through the rough patches (especially miles 18-24). At the first water stop we almost got separated and I can't imagine what the rest of the race would've been like if we hadn't found each other again. Our finisher medals (Tiffany necklaces) show two women running together -- and it will always remind me of how she and I ran this race together.

I also want to thank my mom, grandma, and my mom's cousin Frank for all the spots they showed up along the race. They were there at the start line, finish line, and at least 3 or 4 other stops in between. Big kudos go out to Frank who navigated them through the city so that they could be there to support me. Many of my teammates commented on how many times they saw them on the sidelines and that even though they were there with signs for me, it helped inspire my teammates as well.

Thanks again to everyone that helped make this possible through your donations and support. Overall, this event helped raise 18.5 MILLION DOLLARS for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! And now on to my next challenge...law school applications :-)