My friend and I lost each other...

by Mary
(Nashville)

My first half marathon was the Country Music Half in 2007. I ran with my friend, Liz. We trained and talked about the race for weeks. Then the day arrived and we were both very excited.

But one thing we never discussed before the race is what we would do if we were to lose each other during the race. Of course, we didn't anticipate that happening. But, most unexpectedly it did.

Early in the race, I dropped a pouch that contained "goo" and a couple other snacks that I packed for the race. The best course of action would have been for me to just let it go, but thinking I had to have that pouch, I bent over to pick it up.

Mind you, I was in a sea of people and they were practically leaping over me. (I apologize to those people who were caught in that flurry.) I retrieved the pouch but then realized that Liz was not nearby any longer. So thinking she had not realized what happened, I started to run faster, in hopes of catching up with her.

Then my mind started to race. Oh my gosh. Where is Liz and how will I ever find her? I kept going faster and looking for her. But after a while the runners begin to blur together and I became discouraged - thinking we would not find each other. The worst part is that we had not talked in advance about what to do in this situation.

What I didn't realize until much later is that Liz knew I had dropped the pouch. Being the good friend that she is, she pulled over to the side of the road thinking that we'd reconnect right then and there.

But no, that never dawned on me. So there I was running faster to catch up with Liz. And there was Liz being the best friend she could be - stopping to reconnect with me.

Well a couple of miles later, I heard people from behind yelling at me "Mary, slow down. Mary, slow down." To my total surprise, Liz came up from behind. She found me over the course of two miles. She saw me from a long distance away running crossing across a bridge. My pink hat kind of stood out.

I was astounded that she found me and she was exhausted from playing catchup for a couple miles. I considered it a small miracle that she found me! After a couple miles, it was easy to think we wouldn't see each other until the end of the race.

We had a blast for the rest of the race and finished together. I am forever grateful to her for finding me and for trying to stay by my side throughout the race.

We have run two half marathons together since then. We have agreed that if we were to get separated in the race again, we will go to the next water stop (on the right) and wait for each other at the end of the water stop. Of course, we have not become separated again but at least we had an agreed-upon plan of action.

The Country Music Half Marathon is a wonderful race with awesome fans and fantastic music. If you are fortunate to be a part of it, I hope you have a super nice friend to run with like I have had. And talk about what you will do - in advance - if you get separated from each other.

To my friend, Liz - thank you so much!!!