....though she'll kill me when she sees this online.
I know that this is a bit self-indulgent, but I've just been through the proudest weekend of my life - no exaggeration - fact.
Everyone who attends games at Winton knows Marcia as the quiet lady who watches every game and passionately supports Bahamas Rugby.
Well she's been training hard (you listening boys!) for over two years, completing a 10K road race in Richmond, England in 2005; a half marathon in New York last year and this year she decided to take on a marathon.
She trained diligently on the treadmill for the event (being too shy to run the streets) and figured that Easter would be a good time to take on a temporate run. Marcia was in for a shock.
We turned up at Ocean City, Maryland at 5am, in a state that was enduring the worst April weather conditions it had experienced in over a decade. I didn't want her to run - several of the regular competitors decided against it, claiming that the weather conditions were lethal. She came in her Bahamian training kit - shorts, a singlet and a light COB jacket. As an afterthought, she grabbed Dylan's wooly cap and 'gardeners gloves' from the back of the car. Everyone else was vaselined up or sporting leggings. She couldn't play her iPod because she couldn't close her fingers.
The temperature was 32F (0C), a wind-chilled 22F (-6C) at 7am - then the storm hit. The course hugged the coastline, apparently to enable the competitors to enjoy the beautiful Atlantic shoreline. B) It was hell.
Of the 1,800 starters, only 211 finished. Marcia finished in 5 hours, 4 minutes and was 44th of the 425 women in the race (55 actually finished). God I love this woman!
Players, especially youth players - you can take a lot from this. A mother of two can run 26.2 miles in the most shocking of conditions - you can manage 80 minutes of rugby without thinking about it. All you need is the desire.
Follow up:
Marcia at 21 miles
The kids jumped out of the (well-heated) car for 10 seconds of cheering
At Mid-day, the sun came out.
The local press called this the 'Snowathon' and the 'Hard-as-nails-a-thon'. All I know is that this was her first marathon, so she's well prepared for the next one.
For a Maryland Press article on the race, click here.
