From the Emerald City to The Emerald Isle: Dublin Marathon Expo

Today was the Dublin Marathon Expo and since we have a whopping four group members running this thing, we all decided to go and see the expo. We had our normal run on Saturday morning and then made our way up into the city - to the RDS (which is Dublin's convention center, for big events). I am immensely proud of these guys for training and preparing to run these 26.2 miles on Monday morning.

Donal on the far left, and Killian (in the red) BOTH, could not run more than a 1/4 mile, one year ago. They have each lost 70-80 pounds and are now going to run the full 26.2 miles - and not just jog it, they will complete it very quickly. Killian plans to finish in 4:15 and Donal will be running with Rob and Alan (the other 2 pictured) and will finish in 3 hours 30 minutes, or less. (!!) So, to say these two men have come a long way, would be the understatement of the year.

Killian, in the red, was also on the Irish version of "The Biggest Loser" and was the winner for his year. I've mentioned him before. He's one of my good running buddies and an honest-to-goodness inspiration, all around. Alan and Rob are both experienced marathon runners and they're still pushing to hit that 3:30 mark. Rob, however, we all joke, could finish it in 3 hours 15 minutes, in his SLEEP! (This is a man who ran across Spain, covering nearly 15-20 miles a day, every single day, for 6 weeks, straight. So....he's in another realm, but more humble than you can imagine.)

"The 3:30 Three Musketeers" (I just had to)

Clare made this sign for our running group so she could hold it up when we go to cheer them on, this Monday. It's so cool to see a banner for the running group I started being held by the most badass runners I've ever met, who are going out to finish the Dublin marathon! (Granted, the group had ZERO to do with their running training or prowess but still, we get to call them 'our own') =)