Gasparilla Race Weekend - Part 2

Yesterday I recapped day one of this weekend's festivities. Sunday was the big day.

Tom, John's brother, flew in Saturday morning. He came down to run the half with John. They woke up bright and early at 4AM to head downtown. We did not get to see them before they took off. We got there around 7:30. We parked and walked down towards the finish line to wait for them. I found a good spot and the wait was on.

I knew he wanted to finish around 2 hours and 15 minutes. I kept checking my watch. I had walked down a bit further than my mom and the boys. After waiting about 10 minutes, I was very antsy, I went to back to where the wilds were waiting. We all walked down to my spot.

I then saw the flash of green. John was coming!! I was so excited I wanted to jump off the sidewalk and tackle him. I snapped some pictures and he gave Nathan a high five. I asked him where Tom was and John said he took off around mile 10. I then took off running to try and beat him to the finish. There were just too many people for me to get around and get a good picture.

Watching him cross that finish line was incredible. I've been watching him work so hard the past 6 weeks. It was very emotional to see him accomplish his goal. And he came in at 2 hours and 13 minutes. He beat his goal!!! I think I was more excited than he was. When I was able to get around the barracades I gave him the biggest hug and kiss. Proud is not a strong enough word to describe what I was feeling.

It was such a great weekend for our family. Gasparilla was John's first race last year. He did the 8k. To see how far he has come this past 12 months is amazing. I don't know if I've mentioned it before but he has asthma. I was a little worried about that because he can't take very deep breaths. He gets winded quicker thant he average person. But he rocked it!

We are truly blessed! I am so grateful for our able bodies and the time we get to spend doing what we love!