MCKM and SFM
Every Memorial Day weekend in Rochester, the Med-City Marathon takes place. Until this year, I did not know that there is also a Med-City Half Marathon and a Med-City Kids' Marathon. ("Med-City" is a nickname for Rochester, due to the fact that the Mayo Clinic is the backbone of the city.) Tomorrow Brian will run the half marathon with his buddy Erik, and today Bailey ran the kids' marathon - which is actually 1.2 miles.
Brian's parents live in town and they came to watch Bailey run, as did Erik and his kids. I think Bailey liked knowing that people came to see her run. Brian's dad is a former Marine and has been a long distance runner for many years - and in fact has run several marathons in his younger years. I think he's just tickled pink that Brian and Bailey seem to have both taken an interest in running.
I know most of the people who read this blog have no reference point for this, but doesn't Brian look great? He's lost 47 pounds so far! He's still hoping for 20 more.
Bailey did really well in her run. She wasn't the fastest in her group of 4th graders, but I was still really proud of her for being able to finish the run, and in pretty good time too! I'd love to see her continue to run. She's already said she wants to do this next year, as has Joey (who didn't want to do it this year).
In Rochester, there's a big complex near the center of town called Soldiers Field. There is no football field there, but there's a track, a couple of playgrounds, a golf course, a river, and the Soldiers Field Memorial. It was built a few years ago as a tribute to soldiers from southeastern Minnesota who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
The walls are made of black polished granite, with bits of history etched in, in both pictorial and text form:
There are many, many pavers both inside and outside the memorial that commemorate those lost:
As I mentioned earlier, this city is fairly medically-minded; thus it's not surprising that one of the statues shows a medic & nurse providing aid to a wounded soldier:
Before we left, we discovered a display of two wartime cannons. The first is a Howitzer that was placed into service in 1957 and retired sometime later.
The second is an Iraqi cannon that was captured during the Persian Gulf conflict. How cool is it that it would end up in Rochester, MN?
The rest of the day was filled with more mundane things like going to Home Depot and planting flowers. Things that need to be done, for sure, but I for one was really glad to have gotten the chance to go to the memorial. I've been there before, but it never ceases to amaze me how many, many people have lost their lives for our country - so that we can have the freedoms we too often take for granted. So thank you, veterans!
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Comments
47 pounds!!! That is wonderful!
My father served in both WW2 & Korea. Your post is a great reminder that we should remember & appreciate those past, those who died, and those currenty serving to protect our liberty!
And congrats to Brian, too -- he looks great. And I bet he feels great too!
My kids grow a foot every time I look at them! Seriously, though, I think she has grown a bit lately - I don't have to reach down as much to get to her anymore. :)
You're right - Brian is feeling great. As a matter of fact, today he was just saying that he'd like to go see his doctor because he thinks he can probably adjust his bp & cholesterol meds. How awesome is that?
Brian looks amazing! I bet he feels awesome, too. Are you going broke buying new wardrobes for yourselves? Somehow, I've ended up losing some weight with Ray. It's mainly just annoying me because I don't want to buy all new clothes!
We have to go that memorial when we're there this summer.
Sure, I'll take you down to the memorial! It's really neat.
Brian's so proud of himself that he keeps having to put more holes in his belt and I said, why don't we just go get you some jeans that actually fit?? He wants to get shorts that fit and wait until fall to buy jeans - which I guess makes sense. I, on the other hand, am getting to where all my sister's fat clothes that she gave me are becoming my fat clothes too! I might need to go shopping. Darn - you know how I hate shopping! LOL But I know what you mean - while I'd love to buy a whole new wardrobe I can't afford it! You can nominate me for What Not to Wear if you'd like. :)
and 47 lbs?! that's AMAZING! and actually, you can totally see the difference... you posted the pics of him getting his head shaved... and he looks like a different person!