Nike Women's Marathon: PART TWO

Oh Mariah.  You know me all too well.  There we were, sitting at lunch a few weeks ago during my Arizona visit when it came up.  A half marathon.  See cough, cough, hold back sarcasm and nod in agreement from previous post.  Mariah was instantly on to me.  Having been my friend for many years, she instantly sensed my push back.

She though for a second, stewing, and then said something like, "You know we could try to do the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco.  But there's a lottery to get in, you know..."

She paused, and knew she had me.  Then, the 10 little words that changed everything:

"...because they give you a Tiffany's necklace at the finish."

I smiled.  Well played Mariah.  Well played.  "Actually..." I broke out laughing, "I'm pretty sure now that I think about it that I actually CAN do it after all!"

And that's how it started.  We entered the lottery last Monday, and if we are lucky enough to be choosen in the random drawing, we will join 20,000 other ladies through Union Square to raise funds and awareness for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

There is a big expo around Union Square before, rumored to have massages and manicures abound.  The race itself is said to be challenging but scenic, with lots of fun entertainment and encouragement, alongside women-centered stations such as "The Chocolate Mile" where you're given free chocolate from Godiva.  Twist my arm.  I can run up a hill for some chocolate.

The race is obviously targeted towards the ladies

but the guy's aren't left out.  It's said to be about 80/20 women to men. 

And if you make it through you get a custom-designed Tiffany's finisher necklace:

Tiffany's signature little blue boxes are stacked on silver platters and hunky Firefighters in tuxedos hand you your necklace upon crossing the finish line.

 

It will take awhile to see if we even get it, but for the first time, I am pretty darn excited about a very, very long run.  And by excited I mean terrified, but in an excited way.

It also helps that it's for a good cause.

So in the end it's the blue box that got me to sign up, but it's not my only motivation.  I'll talk about that in my next blog entry.  Keep an eye out for my next post, Nike Women's Marathon: PART THREE.  Until then, thanks for reading.