Kind of Like Christmas.

You know how at holidays your whole family gets together, maybe for the only time that year? Well, that is what the Fargo Marathon has become for MY family. This Christmas, for various reasons, only my sister and her husband were able to join us, and while we love them and all (and kind of enjoyed having them all to ourselves, to be honest...shhh!) it didn't really seem the same to be missing both of our brothers and their awesome wives.

This year both brothers (Dave and Aaron), sister Ruth, and sister-in-law (Aaron's wife) Kate all ran the half-marathon. They have all done at least one full marathon, but decided this time that they'd rather spend the day after the race visiting than recouping.

The day of the race was chilly, about 40 degrees, but thankfully not windy. The starter's gun went off at 8am, and since my brothers are running studs, we pretty much had to be at our first viewing area (mile 2) about 10 minutes later to be sure to catch them! You can tell from the photos that we bundled the kids up really well, digging out their winter coats and hats to ensure a minimum of whining. Dad's cousin Laura opened up her house, which was strategically located just 2 houses up from mile 2, and because of the looping course, also mile 12 - and only 2 blocks from mile 10. So we got to see all four runners 3 times, and then they were done! It was awesome. Especially for the kids - not too much waiting around or delayed gratification. And lots of opportunities for me to take cheesy photos!

You can tell from the smiles and upheld arms that the runners were feeling good - everyone ended up happy with their runs.

Brother Dave is below in the red hat - he placed 20th overall in the half marathon. Brother Aaron is in the other photo - he finished 30th overall, and his magnificent beard didn't prove to slow him down too much.

Can't forget photos of the bystanders! Baby David got to cheer on his daddy from the cozy comfort of his stroller for most of the morning, but we saw Dave coming from a distance the third time, so mommy Jess was able to get him out in time.

Leah tried to make Grandpa DJ go deaf by ringing the cowbell in his ear for a good portion of the race.


Mom, Aaron, Ben and I, Jess and Jess's mom Kelly made up our little huddle of cheerers.

Ruth tried to fake us out - at mile 10, she was wearing a grey long sleeve shirt, which is what we were watching for. But by mile 12, she'd taken it off and was in light green. We almost missed her!

Kate is in the olive green in the other photo, waving at us. She loves running in the cooler weather, and had a personal best time. Gooo, Kate!

We were fortunate to see our old friends Ryan & Sarah and their boys. Ryan ran his first ever marathon, and got a round of applause from my family. In case you can't read the boys' shirts, they say "My dad is THE MAN." Talk about support! We saw Ryan run by at mile 2, but missed him later on. Sarah has their story at her blog, Blue Castle.

And last night found the whole gang (minus Jess and baby David...boo) at our house for homemade pizza and Guitar Hero: World Tour.

Every family has their own holiday traditions, after all.