At the Philadelphia Marathon Finish Line
Every third November of the year, Philadelphia hosts the Philadelphia Marathon weekend composed of an 8k Fun Run, a Race Expo and the half marathon and marathon race. This race was first organized in 1994 and has been inviting runners from all over the East Coast US to finish record times in their preferred race distance. The race route features famous landmarks of Philadelphia like the Independence Hall, Benjamin Franklin's Burial Place, The Liberty Bell, The Rocky Statue and urban neighbors like University City and South Philadelphia. For the year 2012, I was fortunate to be part of this event. Though unplanned, I was able to run (and walk) the half marathon distance. It was an even bigger event as they supported a contingent of NY Marathon runners since that event was cancelled due to typhoon Sandy.
Pre-Race
Before I came back to the US, I was already decided to skip the Philadelphia Marathon since the slots for the half marathon distance was almost full and I was decided to join the Delaware race on December and race fees were WAAAY more expensive so I have to prioritize on the races to join. I already ran part of Philadelphia so I was willing to cheer my uncle to his marathon finish instead of joining another Philadelphia race.
Race Expo
On my weekend back from home, My uncle's friend, Steve, had a shoulder surgery which had halted him from using his slot on the Philadelphia Marathon. My uncle was trying to convince me to take his slot instead and run my first marathon there. But I already made up my mind to run my first marathon in the TBR Dream Marathon on Feb. 2013 and I wasn't in the part of training where I could run 42km so I forego the opportunity.
Pretending that this is my shirt
On Race Weekend, Steve hasn't sold his slot yet so he just claimed the race paraphernalia on the race expo. I was scheduled to run an hour and 30 minutes on my training plan so I was planning run while my uncle was doing his race. Fortunately, Steve found a rule that a greater distance bib can be used to run a smaller distance so I decided to run a half marathon using his marathon bib.
Done with claiming stuff at the Race Expo
On another note, I bought a cool Race belt that said "WTF (Where's the Finish?)" during the Race Expo which I used on the race. (Just Sharing...)
My WTF Race Belt
