Grit. That’s all I could think of when my partner in crime, Kendra, decided that she was going to run a solo marathon. She was supposed to run the Baltimore Marathon with me and Megs this weekend, but plans changed when something came up and she had to cancel out on the race. Life happens. We know that. But, when you’ve got grit, you don’t just hang up your shoes and quit. You get your ass out there an you run your marathon, even if it is alone.

Kendra set out on the NCR trail and mile by mile, ran that marathon of hers that she trained for all summer long…well kind of. Life got in the way (don’t I know that) and she didn’t make every run or every track practice, but she did what she could. She was worried that she didn’t complete enough of the training to have a successful Baltimore Marathon, but she’s got grit. I had no doubt that she could run a marathon at any time on any given day. And she did…under trained, without support, without the crowd, but with grit.

We supported her virtually, checking in on her to make sure she was okay. I gave her a shout out on my Facebook running page and the fans followed suit with cheering her on. The support was amazing. She made sure she kept us up to date with selfies (cause that’s what we do) and she looked fantastic the whole way through.

Her friend Marianne stopped by to make sure she got some much needed nutrition and made sure all was going well.

It takes a lot of courage to get out there and run 26.2. It takes guts and grit to run 26.2 miles by yourself. What I like about marathons is that even when you’re running “by yourself” you are never alone. You are with thousands of people who have the common goal of finishing the race. When you are our there alone, there’s nothing but what you have inside of you, your heart, your head, and your spirit. Your mental monsters are louder, your aches and pains are more intense. There are no distractions and you have to dig deeper to push through.

This says 12, but it was really mile 24. I know I don’t look that good at mile 24.

I can only imagine what Kendra felt like when she finished 26.2 on her own. I’m sure it’s the same feeling of crossing that finish line on race day sprinkled with hot fudge and cherries on top. Yeah, you ran that marathon and you ran it on your own. No aid stations, no cheers, no one there in person to push you through. You go girl! It’s an honor to call you my friend. ❤