MS Run The US Recap - Day 7 Part 1- Miles 169-174

"Miles For Bernard" ~Day 7 Mantra

Miles 169-174 ; Lakewood -> Civic Center Park

We woke at 6am in the hotel and I can't even begin to describe to you the grittiness and pure disbelief that I had less than 6 miles left. Mom and I were going to run the 4.85 miles this morning together to celebrate my journey and grandpa/her father, Bernard, who inspired me to take on this crazy fundraising/ running goal in the first place. It was Sunday morning (and the day before Memorial Day), so traffic was exceptionally quiet as we drove to where we finished yesterday. The road crew met us and I began the final run into Denver.

It was so odd to not have my Ultimate Direction pack with me or water or really anything. I was actually wearing just a regular t-shirt because I had only brought along one outfit for the last day (I wanted to wear it for my "final" mile later that morning). I think my legs felt heavy, but honestly everything felt so surreal that I didn't even notice.

Mom met me along less than mile into it (when she found a safe place to leave her rental for a bit) and we began our journey along side streets into the heart of Denver. A few smalls hills made us both wince, but the views of the city in front of us were stunning. We looked to our left and saw the Mile High Stadium, which was amazing.

you can't really see it, but it's Hazel St (which was my Grandfather's Mother's (my g-grandmother) name)- a definite sign!

The weather stayed cool for the hour that we were there and I just kept thinking how bad I had to pee (ha), but no restrooms in sight! Oh well, guess I really was in the city. We started making our final descent into the city and before I knew it, we had arrived at Civic Center Park! A perfect spot to meet everyone that wanted to run my final mile with me later than morning. We planned to meet the crew back here at 11:45 and had the morning free! Our hotel was within 2 blocks of the finish, so we walked back there to meet Alex and then went to VooDoo Donuts / to retrieve mom's rental.

It was really odd to have a mile left to still run, so I still never felt like I was "finished" because my job wasn't yet completed. I celebrated with a donut and a breakfast sandwich at Corner Bakery and some coffee and showered ready to run it home!