US Half Marathon "I ran the Golden Gate!"

My brother- who is the athlete of the family- joined me for this adventure. Last night before I went to sleep I went on the web to check the chance of rain and of course all the weather websites said... 100% chance of rain! There was no way around it- it was going to rain! I went to sleep hoping and praying that the rain would go away. I cant remember the last time I even walked out in the rain without an umbrella let alone run with no cover for 13.1 miles!
 My brother and I decided to stay at my parents house since it would be a shorter commute for the both of us into the city. We woke up promptly at 5am, ate breakfast, put our rain gear on and out we went... The ride to SF was very scary it was raining super hard and the Bay Bridge felt like it was swinging! We finally got to SF and our moods quickly changed when we saw the mob of people running towards the start line. We parked and started our walk towards the starting line. By then we were already soaked from head to toe so running in the rain was a fact. It was going to happen no matter what! I have to say it was exciting to see thousands of people excited, lined up and pumped to run in the rain!
At 7am we started moving, through Van Ness down towards the Presidio through Crissy Fields and on and on we went... Mile 1 went by, mile 2, mile 3 and so on... by the time I saw Mile 4 I was feeling lots of pain. I kept looking at my watch to see what kind of timing I had and I was going right on schedule- about 12 min mile...
 Suddenly the course took a turn towards a steep hill that will eventually loop us up to the Golden Gate. At that point I had to walk it. The hill beat me, my hamstrings were burning and my thighs were yelling at me to power walk up this hill, so I did. Once the hill was over I got back on running mode as I stared straight ahead at this red monster! The Golden Gate!!
 As soon as I stepped on the GG, I blessed myself and I kept moving, never once stopping I suddenly realized that I, the overweight young self conscious little girl, was running in the rain, on the Golden Gate Bridge! I tossed that self conscious girl off the bridge the moment I realized that nothing hurt and that in about 20 minutes I would be on the other side of the bridge heading back to the finish line.
As I finished the first side of the Bridge I looked to my left and actually saw my little brother running back. I was so happy to see him and see how far ahead he was just made me run faster. By the time I got to the end of that side of the bridge, I was feeling a bit weak so I slowed down a bit. At that moment I looked down on to the ground and I found a $20 bill! rolled up wet, but nonetheless a $20 bill!
 I quickly picked it up and kept going- I feel bad for whomever lost $20, but for me it was an energy booster to keep going.
The course then looped under the bridge and under to the other side of the bridge along some downward steep trails that I happily took advantage of to built some momentum and start passing some people. But of course what comes down must also come up, so a new hill was approaching, this one to take us back on the bridge and back towards SF.
As we looped back on the bridge I saw that 7 mile mark. Yikes! I thought to myself '7 miles!' I felt like I had a long way to go and so little time. I was basically half way to the finish line. I kept going, never looking back and making sure that I was holding a good pace. Before I knew it I was back on Crissy Fields running along the water. The course at this point was uncomfortable for me.  I am not a fan of running along the sandy dirt road, I felt like I was working twice as hard as if I was running on cement!
I kept going... soon enough I saw mile 10! My body was definitely screaming with pain, my hips hurt, my knees, my thighs, basically my whole lower body was aching. I decided to walk it off and power walk most of the time between the 10 and 12th mile, until I got to a a pretty little bridge that felt like it was moving by itself! It wasnt, of course, I was hallucinating at that point :)
 I stepped on the bridge and started running a bit faster knowing that cement was approaching soon. Once  I saw the 1 mile mark I knew I was almost there, I started pushing myself and talking to myself and it worked! I pushed and pushed and soon enough I was back at aquatic park, back where the finish line was suppose to be. Boy I was wrong! I thought the finish line was going to be in the exact same place that the starting point was, and it wasnt! As I went down a steep hill, that of course gave me some extra momentum and that I sprinted down from, I realized the starting line was missing and that it was a good .25 of a mile away! I could see a bunch of people waiting for us, tents, and the big finish line! I pushed harder... Harder than I had ever pushed myself in my life. I ran through the finish line and I just stopped.
My brother quickly found me and gave me a big hug!He then asked me if I was 'ok' as I broke down in tears right then and there. He probably thought I was hurt, but although I was physically exhausted emotionally I felt amazing! full of happiness and joy to be done that tears started rolling down...
I could not believe that I actually got out and ran 13.1 miles in the rain! and to top it off I did it while running across one of the most beautiful land marks of the world!
I am glad I get to share this with my friends and family as well as my husband who I know was there with me in thoughts and spirit all the way from Afghanistan.

My First Half Marathon was an amazing experience!~ I still cant believe I ran it in pouring rain and winds across the Golden Gate and back to SF. This could not have been a better First 1/2 for me! I am so proud of myself and so excited to say "I ran the Golden Gate"!!!!