Greek Blog Sunday July 3
Though Molly’s events are over, the family event is taking place this morning! There is a Unity run as part of the half marathon and marathon events of the games. Our family is running the 10K. We kit ourselves out in our SO running team outfits and hike up to the marble stadium where the event is kicking off. There is music and a huge blow up start/finish line, loads of balloons,volunteers..it is a great scene! Unfortunately in spite of much begging, pleading and offers to make it happen ourselves…the coaches from Team USA have not brought Molly to the event. We are extremely frustrated, but really it will wreck the event if we dwell on it, so we have to let it go. We have our SO athlete, Charlotte, and so she will be our Unity athlete today! The marathoners head off at the gun, then 5 minutes later the half and 10K’s head out . The route is perfect, up and back. Uphill all the way out, but in the shade, and slight downhill for the return, with the sun at our backs. Danny quickly heads up front, and Charlotte and I run the whole race together! She struggles a bit in places, but keeps on going. GOD is good, and he provides us with companions that run along with us for bits of time and distract us both. In front of the Hilton Tim Shriver and his family are on the street cheering on the runners. I holler “Good Morning Tim!“ and when he says Hi, I yell “here’s Charlotte!“ and he steps out and gives her a high five!! A lovely Greek woman runs almost the whole second half with us, and she waits to finish with us. We send Charlotte sprinting ahead of us and she and I sprint in together. I turn a cartwheel as I cross the line, we are pretty jazzed up! We grab our waters and go sit along the course in a shady spot to wait for Jerry. Our friend, another Team USA mom, Kathy, is hanging out with us too. When we see Jerry, the ambulance is driving right next to him! They must have thought he’d never make it! But you know Jerry, slow and steady, and Kathy suggests that Danny and I go run him in(Charlotte is not moving at this point!) His knee is holding up great, and when we reach him, we tell the ambulance to move along, he is FINE! Too funny! After Jerry finishes we get drinks and cheer as the marathoners and half-marathoners from Special Olympics finish…what a thrill and amazing accomplishment. The music is lively and fun and we keep dancing and enjoying the atmosphere. Tim and gang are at the finish line now, his wife Linda and a son have run the half. He is joking around with us and congratulates the kids. We also meet Loretta, an athlete member of the SO board. A total blast and a great event(wish Mol had been with us)
We rest up and eat lunch at the apartment, then head off to the beach. This time we stop at a public beach(think seaside heights vs. Normandy the other day!) and while we have fun, it is sooo different from the other day. Loads of Africans strolling along the sand fully dressed selling things like dresses on hangers, pocketbooks, jewelry, tubes, sand toys, etc. We buy a paddle ball game and enjoy that. After a dinner and shower, we leave the kids and meet Rene and Alete, our friends from the Netherlands, for a drink. They are such an interesting couple. Their son Joachim’s handball team ended up with the bronze medal and was thrilled! Jerry shares a couple of carafes of wine with them and we stroll a bit and take them to our favourite gift shop for SO goodies. We hope to stay in touch, and are invited to the Netherlands to visit anytime!
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| pre 10K with our friend Kathy |
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| Team Hincka! |
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| we did it! Danny's first 10K |
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| running in the team anchor! |
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| Stubby Potgutski at the Olympics!!! |
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