Monkeys were seen flying through the park today...

...the 4th running of the Flying Monkey Marathon. This marathon is very unique in several ways. To read more about it and see pictures of the breathtaking course, click here. I definitely need to run this marathon one day - one of the things that made me decide to move to Nashville in the first place was running through Percy Warner Park.

Anyway, 3 clients of mine did this race today: Bob, Stephanie, and Judith. This was Bob's 75th marathon. He has completed a marathon in all 50 states plus DC, and obviously has done a little more. About a month ago he was having some pretty bad foot pain, but luckily he took care of it and was able to get across the finish line today with a smile on his face. Stephanie finished 3-4 minutes ahead of Bob with a great time - not too far off of her time at last year's St. Jude Marathon in Memphis. (That marathon is much flatter, by the way, so this shows how much she has improved as a runner.) I heard her tell a family member, "Don't ever do this!" after she was done, but I heard similar things come out of her mouth when running the last 4 miles with her last year in Memphis, so I'll just take it with a grain of salt.

5 minutes ahead of Stephanie was Judith. Judith did this race in its first year, then skipped a year to have a baby. Last year she started the race but had to drop out around mile 16-18 due to insufficient training. (I was not her coach back then!) This year she trained very well and it paid off - not only did she better her time from 2006, she ran her fastest marathon ever. A marathon PR on a super-hilly course!!! I jumped in with her at mile 18 and ran to to the finish, so I can tell you firsthand that she was AMAZING - no walking, no whining, just chatty and positive all the way to the end!!! Next up for Judith is the Huntsville Marathon on Dec 12th.

Awesome job today, girls (and Bob)! Enjoy the rest of your day!!!