Yep folks, you heard it right – this Saturday we started a brand-new marathon tradition…born out of a 42-year old marathon tradition that never should have been on schedule to take place after Hurricane Sandy. But then was. Then wasn’t.

Sigh. The NYC Marathon. Matt officially deferred his registration on Friday morning after much thought on the emotional and logistical hurdles that came with it. We both didn’t agree that it was right for the NYRR to hold the marathon after the heartbreaking devastation that is now a reality for much of NYC and New Jersey. Running through boroughs filled with people who have lost their homes, their possessions and even their loved ones isn’t a journey to be filled with personal accomplishment or glory. (Thankfully, the NYRR got their brains back together and officially cancelled the race on Friday night.)

So even though he wasn’t going to run in NYC, Matt was determined to put all of his training to good use and run the 26.2 miles anyways on Saturday morning. Which obviously meant we I needed to make a big deal out of it.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B (cheering and taking photographs of him walking down the hall when he was done. I missed the outside shots as I was working on Exhibit C):

Exhibit C:

…and Exhibit D: a post-marathon meal of huevos rancheros. (Matt said it was the best he’d ever had! However, I’m sure anything tastes like heaven after 26.2 miles. Either way, I’ll take it.)

Whew! I don’t know who worked harder that morning.

KIDDING. We all know it is surprisingly difficult to write on toilet paper with a Sharpie.

Matt’s final time was 3:33, (TEN MINUTES FASTER than his last marathon in Seattle!) with an average pace of 8:07 minutes per mile. He ran his little legs out, accomplishing the goal he set forth back in June when he was selected to run the NYC Marathon. He worked so hard, trained so much and ran a race that -if it weren’t for my tendency to overshare the bits & pieces of our life via social media – a select few people would have known about or praised him for. He raced against himself and won, and  I seriously could not be more proud of him.

Or those huevos rancheros.