Tuscaloosa Half Marathon

March 7

2:12:10

This event was not about the race, but about the pleasure and excitement of helping Hank. You see, Hank has Cerebral Palsy just like TJ, and this was to be his first half marathon. His mom and sister were also running, but Hank said they were too slow, haha. I have had the pleasure of meeting a group of people through that race with TJ last year, called Ainsley’s Angels. Their mission is to help special needs kids and young adults with disabilities reach their goals. Even though they can’t walk, they have a strong will and the desire to be competitive and win, just like all the rest of us.

The Alabama Ambassador for Ainsley’s Angels paired me up with a lady named Amy. We met just minutes prior to the race, so we didn’t know too much about each other. I asked her what she was thinking we could push Hank to, and she responded with a 2:08, whereas in my mind, I was thinking 2:20.

If you have never had the chance to do this, you should really try it. It is very rewarding in a lot of ways. I read a comment from another lady that was pushing, that talked about how she was getting burned out, and that this really gave her a new desire to run.

There were a couple of things that I want to share about the experience; it’s really about the way Hank was responding to all of this.

• We were calling out the mile markers to make sure Hank knew where we were at. At every sign, he was throwing up his arms and high fiving anyone that would give him some. It seemed that his excitement grew with each marker, kind of like he knew we were making progress.
• At every water station, we slowed to see if Hank wanted/needed a drink. He shook his head no each time as to say, let’s keep going.
• We passed several cheering sections that had people banging on drums, and this really motivated Hank.
• We took a photo op at mile 10 to take a few selfies
• There was one section of downhill that I really needed to use the brakes on the stroller to keep from going too fast. I think we were clipping along in the mid 7:00’s and Hank was having a blast. During this section, I had tears in my eyes, wishing his mom and dad was there to see him.
• Just after we crossed the 13 mile mark, we transferred Hank to a walker, and he mostly used his own power to cross the finish line.

Here are a bunch of pictures.

What a wonderful thing to do!  It looks like you and Hank both had a great time.  Way to go!

What a great day for you and Hank! Looks like you both had a lot of fun!

I think this is only the second time ever I had to get up in the middle of reading a RR to go get a box of kleenex. The first was Runwell's ~4:10 finish at Boston 2013, if any of you remember that one. This one's a better story. It's a wonderful thing you did. I remember reading a story about the Hoyts, the father-son team who got famous doing marathons like this. The son loved it so much because if made it feel like he was running himself, something he'd never be able to do on his own. Can you imagine being a kid and not being able to just run around like any other kid? That's the great gift you gave Hank. Well done, Mitch.

Now that sounds like a great event! Thanks for sharing the RR and pics!

Wow, Mitch...just WOW.    What a great race report and great photos!  You have a big heart, my friend!

You and Amy were in beast mode to push a stroller in 2:12!  Well done. My favorite part of the story is Hank crossing the finish line in his walker.  Now I'm grabbing the tissues.

Thanks for sharing this, hog. This kind of thing makes me feel better about humanity. I also needed kleenex.