Texas Zeta love extends for over 20 miles

          Five months ago, my best friend and I from high school decided to cross ‘running a marathon’ off our bucket lists. I initially had my doubts that we’d follow through, but nonetheless we chose our training plans (18 weeks long) and registered for the Cedar Park “Frankenthon” on October 18^th. All throughout the summer we trained, beginning with 3 mile runs in the first week, trying to figure out how we would one day make it to the ominous 20 mile run that loomed around Week 15 (at the time, 30 minutes in the Texas heat still left us panting and exhausted). Sure enough, however, as the weeks slowly ticked by and we stayed focused on our one-day-at-a-time mentality, our mileage crept up and up, as did our confidence levels.

          On the day of the race I woke up at 5:30 after being too excited to sleep and drove in the pitch black to our starting location. We’d been talking this up for months now, sacrificing long hours and much sleep to get in our Sunday morning long runs, dealing with the set-backs of busy weeks like rush and midterms, and answering the forever asked “But why??” question. After all that time, finally the starting gun rang out and we were off!

          The first three miles were by far the highlight. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as I talked to the people around me all thinking the same thing, Hey, I’m actually doing this—I’m really running a marathon! Unfortunately, our spirits went downhill from there (while the course headed uphill). At the end of mile 3, the blisters began forming. That’s right, 23.2 miles worth of two monstrous blisters. 4 miles of severe leg cramps (miles 18-22). 1 mile of headphones that ran out of batteries (the last mile). 24 miles in the unsheltered heat and humidity. This totals to over 4 hours of running.

          Finally, I approached the sign that offered much less relief than expected. Mile 26. A mere .2 miles to go… My body was exhausted, shoulders cramping, my hips were sore by overcompensating for my left hamstring which randomly decided to stop working. The motivations and words of encouragement from each passing runner were quickly losing their effect. Nothing in the world sounded better than to just stop moving my legs and to simply sit down. As I rounded that last grueling corner to the finish line, a large smile broke out on my face. I could see the finish line, but more than that I suddenly heard the ecstatic cheers of voices I knew very well.

“Go Lauren! Whoooo! Look her go! Ow ow!”

          Kelsey McGlamery and Erin Eberle, two of my favorite Zetas, drove thirty minutes out of town in the middle of Parent’s Weekend to stand at the dusty finish line in the middle of Cedar Park. They embraced my sweaty hugs and dealt with the strange looks they got for being dressed in game day attire. Whether I run another marathon with or without them by my side, I know there will always be at least a couple of Zetas out there crazy enough to support me along the way…and I couldn’t be more thankful for them.

ZLAM

Lauren Woolfolk PC'13

Erin Eberle (PC'13) congratulates Lauren after crossing the finish line.