Our MLK Weekend with Elite Runner Gail!

We were lucky to host my uncle Joe's wife Gail this weekend (and her entourage of daughter Becky and sister Michelle) as she prepared for, ran, and basked in the glory of the Houston Marathon. Her goal was to break the 3 hour mark. So she left us early Saturday to enter race-prep mode downtown at her hotel. Meanwhile, we took Becky to the HMNS, Little Bigs in Hermann Park and then, of course, to the Galleria. She had her makeup done at the Sisley counter and then we hit the hotspots: Hello Kitty/Sanrio store, Dylan's Candy Bar, and Carolina Herrera. Here she is, post shopping spree:

We made inspirational posters and staked out a spot at the AOS Gaterade table at mile 8:



Here is our athelete, on target and looking strong at mile 14:

We had to scale this fence in order to reach our desired spot at mile 23. From the bendy looks of it, we weren't the first to attempt this maneuver.
Here she is at mile 23, concentrating with incredible mental strength to keep the pace with her heels in front of the 3 hour pacer, who carries balloons.

She did it! We received the text message from the race that our runner crossed the finish line with a chip time of 02:59:34!!!!!! We all whooped and hollered as we tried desperately to reach downtown and find her in the post race crowd. After about 30 minutes of wandering Discovery Green on a gorgeous sunny morning, we headed for the car. Just as we were all buckling up, Becky said, "Guys, there's my MOM!" She was walking past us with her training buddy. We all scrambled out of the car, elated to celebrate with Gail.

Back home, she enjoyed reliving it all with us, jumping in the freezing pool and alternating with the hot tub, and then had a massage by my good friend Carey.