It’s been a tradition of mine for a few years to go out and cheer on the marathon runners. A lot of the time, I don’t know anyone running or I’m not able to see the people I know who are running. I just go out to cheer on the runners and enjoy the positive environment. It’s really a great way to boost my mood and I know that the runners appreciate having people out there to encourage them.
I haven’t always made signs for my cheering, but I have gotten into making fun and clever signs. I usually do some searching online for signs other people have made and sometimes I’ll use the same idea and sometimes I will get inspired to make something different because of something I saw. I’m not the most creative person when it comes to making the signs, but I do have fun with them and they aren’t too difficult to make.
Most of the time, I’m not alone when I’m going out to cheer on the runners. My friend Liz joins me and we each will usually have a sign (I don’t mind making signs for us both). But this year, Liz couldn’t join me because she was going to run the marathon! I was sad she wouldn’t be out there with me, but I was so excited for her to do her first marathon and of course, I was going to cheer her on! I tried to find a friend to come with me so I would have a buddy out there, but I wasn’t able to so I went by myself. But at least I had a sign I really thought was clever this time to hold up.
I had also made the “tap here to power up” sign in case a friend could come with me, but since I was alone I thought this one was a bit funnier.
Liz had sent me a link to follow her progress live online, so I knew when she was getting close to the cheering spot. I didn’t head out until I knew she was getting close, and I made it about 15 minutes before she would get there. So I held up my sign and cheered on everyone who was going by.
This sign might not have gotten as much attention as the power up sign gets, but the reactions I got were much bigger! So many people were laughing when they went by and read it. Several of them joked that I’d be their hero if I did that for them. I even got smiles and thumbs up from the police officers on bikes going up and down the street. It made me so happy to see how much joy people got out of the sign. That’s exactly why I made it and I’m glad it accomplished what I wanted it to do.
While I was holding it up, I was watching the tracking for Liz to make sure I knew when she would be close. Fortunately, since she’s normally cheering with me, she knew exactly where to look for me and I didn’t have to worry that she would go by and I’d miss her. And soon enough, I saw her running toward me with a huge smile!
I was screaming and cheering so loudly for her! I was so proud of her and she looked so strong! I cheer around mile 19, so she was well past halfway through and she looked like she had only been running for a mile or so. And she was able to stop for a moment for me to give her a hug and for us to take a quick selfie.
And then she was off again! She had another 7 miles to go and I knew that she was going to do amazing and finish it with a great time. Of course, I would have loved to have her hang out a bit longer with me since it’s always so fun when we are hanging out and doing the cheering together, but she had to keep going so she could get to the finish line.
I stayed out there for about 20 more minutes cheering on the runners. I knew I wouldn’t know anyone else running past me, but every time I thought about maybe heading back to my car someone else had a really awesome reaction to my sign and I decided to stay out there. But I couldn’t stay all day for a few different reasons so I did have to get back home.
This was exactly the boost of positivity I needed. I know there is a lot of scary news out there and some people even said I was crazy for going out there to be around a big crowd. But I don’t want to feel isolated and I knew the runners would be out there no matter what. So I wanted to be there too and do the small part I can do in supporting everyone running the marathon.
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