That was three years ago.
In the three years following, I only participated in two races and those have only been since I graduated in May.
In my first, post-graduation race, my friend Madeline decided to come cheer me on while I ran through a cornfield carrying a pumpkin. Madeline has decided that she wants to run more, so we have agreed to run the half marathon together. When I ran the marathon in 2013, I decided to create a blog to keep people updated on my progress. Madeline has encouraged me to dust off the old blogging skills for this race, too.
Madeline is one of the most unique people you could ever meet. She grew up in a rural town, her parents' home is, quite literally, in the middle of a cornfield, and she has a love of ichthyology (the study of fish). Okay, so she probably read that and screamed; Madeline hates fish.
We met freshman year of college at orientation. We were tasked with completing a scavenger hunt. One task was to take a picture of our group spelling ILLINI with our bodies. Being the over confident 18 year old that I was, trying to prove myself as a leader amongst my peers, I tried to make Madeline be the letter "I." She was NOT about that life, so she abandoned the group. Through the following years, Madeline and I got closer, first through Engineering Council, and then later through various shenanigans we always had a way of getting ourselves into.
So here we are, both new graduates still trying to figure out how to be adults. I'm now working full time as an engineer and Madeline is a self-proclaimed hot mess. I have successfully convinced Madeline to reach her full potential and become a runaway hot mess express by participating in this half-marathon. I can't promise she will love every part of training, but I can promise that I will not force her to be an "I" during any part of training.
This picture is from Sophomore year when Madeline and I were about the drop our Christmas mix-tape.
