Lucky for us, we got to ride our bikes for those 26.2 miles. Our job was to guide our wheeler (hand cyclist) through the race. This is important for a couple of reasons. First, the wheelers ride very low to the ground and have a harder time seeing turns that are coming up, and also (and more importantly) because runners need to be alerted that a wheeler is coming up behind them. This is especially important during a hill decent when a wheeler is FLYING...like our hand cyclist did down the other side of the Ambassador Bridge.
It might not seem like a big hill in the picture, but trust me, it is. I was going as fast as I could on my bike while blowing my whistle so hard that there was slobber flying all over my face as hard as I could to warn runners of the wheeler that was flying towards them. It was a rush to say the least. And I'll admit, a bit terrifying!
There were only a few times during the race when I thought our hand cyclist might take someone out because they were listening to music so loud they couldn't hear my extremely loud and obnoxious whistle blowing. Luckily, we were able to help avert all danger and guide her all the way to her first marathon finish line.
It was pretty amazing to share in the excitement of her accomplishing that goal. She was also the only FEMALE hand cyclist in the Detroit Marathon this year! Can we say "First Overall Female"?! A HUGE congrats to Sara on this achievement!
It is experiences like this that remind me just how fortunate I am to have the gift of running. It is a gift not granted to all.
And with that in mind, I shall get back to my training :)
Sparkle.Pounce.Be Inspired.
-Kendra
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