Drove straight from work to home. My mom stopped here and we got into the Yaris and on our way as soon as I said goodbye to Emmy. Drove through I-87 South, into Jersey, a million tollbooths later and we finally got to the hotel at 1130 pm. I passed out, only to be woken up at about 130 or 2am by a fire siren in the small suburb of Dover, DE. Got up at 5am, bath and dressed, on the road by 6am. Got to Lewes, DE at 7am. Got changed, used the restroom and got to the starting line. Lots of Maniacs there. Announcements claimed that there was a First Descents participant in the crowd, a young lady dressed in pink. She was running her first marathon. In addition, there was a 9 year old boy named Niklaus who was running his first marathon (he ended up coming in only about 20 minutes after me! AND he beat his dad!). He is trying to run 7 marathons on 7 continents to raise $1,000,000 for charity. I hope he succeeds in his quest! They gave some directions and we were off! Loop 1 (6.6. miles - 1:10:00). Felt good. Went out slow and just enjoyed the sights and sounds. Settled into an honest pace. Wearing regular shoes, first time for a marathon since May 2011 - weird. Made sure to stay in front of at least a dozen or so runners. Loop was nice. 1.5 miles on pavement, then 1.5 miles through boggy smelly tide pool area, then 1.5 miles through pine forrest, and finally 1.5 miles along the beach path. Aid stations at 2 miles and 4 miles. Ate 1 Hammer Gel. Loop 2 (6.6 miles - 1:12:00). Feeling okay. Had another Hammer Gel. Ankle a little sore but not bad. Hamstrings hurt the most because of the orthotics I think, but I needed the support or else I would not be able to withstand the pounding. Stayed pretty consistent. Saw mom at about mile 10 and she let me change shirts. Got out of my sweaty sweatshirt and into my Stockadeathon orange shirt and my "bunghole" shirt from Bunghole Liquors in Salem, MA. Loop 3 (6.6 miles - 1:35:00). Walked a loop with mom. I would run the 4 different "tentacles" that were out and backs that broke off, and then jog until I caught up with her, then fast walk and talk with her. I loved this part. It's been a while since I got to spend quality time with my madre! A couple people passed us but that was ok. Loop 4 (6.6 miles - 1:30:00). Mom said she was up for walking one more, which would mean a total of about 15 miles of walking for her. I did the same thing as the last loop, and then kept running for the last 2 miles. Nearly caught a group of about 4-5 runners up ahead. The guys I was playing cat/mouse with (brothers or cousins with the same last name) did not come back. I think they were annoyed because they thought they could catch me. Little do they know that I was taking it easy because of the lingering pain in the sprained ankle department. Finished only to find out there was no food left! Argh! I hate that! Always no food for the back of the packers. Total Time: 5:35:xx Total Distance 26.4 miles - 74th of 92 finishers. | 
