Marathon man

He did it!  Jon is officially a marathoner.  Jon, Zach and I headed down to Akron Friday night so we could sleep in until 4:30am on Saturday.  Roads started closing at 5am and we wanted to make sure we were parked in the area of the finish line.  Gram stayed home with the rest of the group.

It was very cold, very early and we were very tired but Zach did great.  He took some naps, took in the crowds and was his sweet self all morning long.

It was a long wait for the start, but they did a decent job of keeping the crowd occupied.    
The starting line:

Getting ready to line up for the start:

My first view of Jon after the start.  Mile 3 and going strong.

We got another look at the runners between mile 8 and 9.  He's still looking good!  At this point the course went all over Akron and Zach and I weren't going to be able to see Jon until the finish.  We walked around the Akron campus for a bit, got some hot chocolate and warmed up in the student union.  

I got an update at mile 16 so Zach and I headed to Canal Park (the Akron Aeros stadium) to wait for Jon to cross the finish line.  The runners came in on the field while we were in the stands cheering.

It was different being a spectator.  I got to see a lot of interesting costumes, some crazy strides, some strong finishes and some people that looked like they weren't going to make it.  We even saw 2 couples get engaged at the finish line. I was so glad we got to see him finish.  He did amazing and we are all so proud!