With the half marathon fading further into the distance, I just wanted to collect some final thoughts on my adventure. For those of you who have followed me all along, you know that I did not expect to even get into the race, much less finish.
I completed the 13.1 miles throughout NYC on Sunday, March 19 in 2:06:16, just seconds shy of my best half ever. Along the way, I met some amazing people who I now consider friends, I pushed myself further than I thought I could, and I finished strong and felt empowered throughout the process. I am a writer by trade, but getting a chance to document all of my adventures not only gave me an outlet to get my thoughts down, but also further rooted me in my training and the amazing work that is done by SPCDC in the city of Paterson. I am continually humbled to be part of this team.
The race, in itself, was completely uplifting. For those of you who are not runners and have no interest in trying a race yourself, I invite you sometime to go watch a half marathon, marathon, triathlon, etc. You will leave the experience inspired. Whenever you gather 20,000 folks together all trying to accomplish the same goal, you look around the field and some struggles you can visibly see- the woman with a bandana covering the chemo aftermath, a man with a prosthetic leg- the visible consequence of war, the senior citizen with a guide because he has lost his sense of sight. And some struggles are hidden- the girl using this run to battle the anxiety and depression that haunts her every day, the person who has struggled to lose weight all their life and is finally succeeding, the guy who couldn’t run a mile before training for this race. No matter who they are, they overcame their challenges on that day on that course with 20,000 friends and onlookers cheering on the side lines. That, in itself, is amazing!
In closing, I thank you for spending your time supporting me through this process. Whether you popped by once or twice, forwarded my blog to your friends or donated to my cause, I couldn’t have done this without all of you. My last thank you goes to my parents Joe and Donna Costanzo, who were my final donation in this campaign. Your support now and always is something that has helped to shape me into the person I am today. God Bless and God Speed.