If you have been reading my blog for a while now then you already know that Greg has been training for the Disney marathon. Well, this past weekend we were in Orlando for the long-awaited event. Greg had been training for months now and he was overly excited and anxious about the race on Saturday night. we didn't even sleep that much because we kept watching the clock. The race started at 6am so he left the room before 4am to take the shuttle bus from our hotel to Epcot where the race would begin. Greg's parents drove up from Ft. Lauderdale to watch the race and offer their support. They got up early so that they could get to the start line before 6am. Since I had the kids with me I would join them later. They actually saw Greg at the start line and 2 other times and then they came over to our hotel to get me and the kids. They wanted to help me with the children and I really appreciate their help because it was not so easy with 2 children and going from shuttle bus to monorail and back to shuttle bus to follow Greg. After picking me up we decided that it would be much easier to go straight to the finish line because of all the commuting. We also feared that we would miss Greg based on when we were expecting him to finish. After 45 minutes of anxiously waiting for Greg to get to the finish line we got a phone call from him stating that he's been having some problems for the last hour. This is not a call we wanted to receive but we were happy that we weren't getting worse news. We were very grateful to God that he was alive!
Apparently Greg was having severe cramps in his legs and could not continue to run. He had to go to the medical center at mile 10 in the marathon. After a nurse examined him, he was told that he had over-hydrated his body and depleted most of the electrolytes in his body. I believe the condition is called hyponatremia (which is basically water poisoning, when there's too much water in one's system). Insane!! This was very terrifying. They actually told him to get off the course and not finish the race. If you know anything about Greg then you know that he is very stubborn. Not finishing the race was not an option for him. So he pressed on and decided that he would walk and try to jog until he finish. Folks a marathon is 26.2 miles so yep you got it right. He basically walked, jogged and shuffled for16.2 miles. Unbelievable!!
I did not speak to Greg until he was at mile 20 because when he called me I did not hear my cell phone ringing and neither did his parents. Luckily his friend Chris who was running as well caught up with him and helped him through the race. Chris actually forfeited his chance of finishing the marathon in a decent time to walk alongside Greg. Even though Greg insisted that Chris continue without him so that he could get a good time he wouldn't leave Greg behind. We think that was very heroic of him. Thanks Chris!
I did not speak to Greg until he was at mile 20 because when he called me I did not hear my cell phone ringing and neither did his parents. Luckily his friend Chris who was running as well caught up with him and helped him through the race. Chris actually forfeited his chance of finishing the marathon in a decent time to walk alongside Greg. Even though Greg insisted that Chris continue without him so that he could get a good time he wouldn't leave Greg behind. We think that was very heroic of him. Thanks Chris!
So when Greg called me and I spoke to him and heard all that he had already endured and he still wanted to finish the race I had no choice but to support him. When I saw him at mile 24 we shared a very emotional moment as I hugged and kissed him and cheered him on. Of course later I realized just how crazy the whole thing was. I was extremely worried about Greg but when I saw him and saw that he needed my support and encouragement I switched into another mode, not that I wasn't still worried but I knew he needed me to show my caring and supportive side.Later he told me just how much he appreciated it because the whole time he was thinking just how much he had disappointed me. He said that my and his parents' encouragement motivated him to go on. At this point, his mom even asked his dad to join Greg on the course so that he could run along with him to the finish line. Greg said that it was one of his most if not the most memorable moment he shared with his dad. Read Greg's blog here. The whole event was one of the most intense emotional experience that I've had in a while. In the end, all I can do is thank God for his faithfulness. He is an awesome God! Do you know my Lord?
No comments:
Post a Comment