A Thank You to the World’s Best Husband

For the last few years I have been a part of a group called Run the Year. I started in 2017, so this will be my third year.  The goal of the group is to run miles equal to the year, so this year it is 2019 miles.

The group has a Facebook page and there are a lot of us who post regularly on that page.  We share ideas, we share milestones when we hit them, we share pictures of runs, we discuss our race “PR” (personal record) when we beat it in a race, we post about shoes, and running attire, fuel for longer races, good races, bad races, dreams races, running milestones, and sometimes we post about family, including parents and kids and grandkids…

And we sometimes see posts about spouses/ significant others. Sometimes those posts are about loss or illness. Those are hard. 

But many times those posts are written by someone who is frustrated because he or she is not able to get in as many miles as they would like because their wife/ husband/ significant other is not supportive of their efforts.  Sometimes it is someone whose husband or wife does not like to “watch the kids” so their partner can run or go to the gym. Sometimes it is someone whose spouse “tolerates” the training but does not support the person’s races.

Those posts are hard to read and harder to scroll past, without responding… and I usually try to just not respond, because I tend to speak my mind about such matters, and I think a lot of people might not want to hear what I would have to say.

Sometimes, though, people write the kind of post that I would write about my husband, Corey. 

They brag about the fact that their husband supported them during a race, or that their wife watched the kids so they could get in a late-night or early morning run, or they post a picture of the brand-spanking-new shoes/ watch/ hydration vest or other cool gift that they just received for their birthday/ anniversary/ Valentine’s Day from a spouse or significant other who “gets it.”

I am one of those fortunate souls.  My husband is, hands down, without a doubt, nothing short of amazing.

I have been telling him since before we were married that I am the luckiest person in the world because he loves me.  And it’s true. 

I am also the luckiest runner, ever, to be married to such a supportive and amazing man. 

I asked for trekking poles for Christmas, and he got them for me.  I asked for a book regarding race fuel (Feedzone Portables) and he got it.  I asked for XOSkin toe socks, and there they were! 

If I need new shoes, he tells me to get them.  If there is a race I want to run, he supports my decision to run it, and if he has a chance to go and to be there to support me, he does.

He drives me to and from races, he takes pictures, he greets me at the finish, he holds my shit while I am running and he helps me keep my shit together when I am nervous or scattered or just not quite awake enough on those early morning races.  

And not only does he support me, he supports my friends.

Last May I ran my first 50K at the Ice Age Trail.  My friend, Tracie, ran it, too.  She broke her foot 7 miles in.  He was there for her when she came through the start/ finish at mile 13, offering her ibuprofen and support and he was ready to take her to the Emergency Room if she needed it.  And he would have taken her, if she had decided to go.  (Instead she finished the race on that broken foot, like the warrior that she is!) 

By the way, I know that he would have taken Tracie to the hospital, if she decided to go, because at my first trail Ragnar, he drove my teammate to the hospital for evaluation after she hurt herself and was not satisfied with the race Paramedic’s diagnosis.

Oh, and did I mention that when that runner told us she was out for the rest of our Ragnar (we were an ultra team of just 4 runners) and another runner also dropped after 3 of her 6 loops, that Corey stepped up, contacted the race officials, and made arrangements to step in and run some of our remaining loops so that Suzanne and I could actually finish the 118 miles required for a team finish so we could collect our medals? He had not trained, had never planned to run, but when she and I were in tears because we had traveled so far and did not want to go home without our medals, he took it upon himself to make it happen for us. 

(He has  also gone to two other road Ragnars with me, just to serve as a driver for our van, so the runners did not have to worry about driving.   See?  Freaking amazing!!)

A short 4 months after that May 2018 50K, Tracie and I and our awesome friend Brandi ran our first 50-miler at the Hawk Hundred in Kansas. 

Corey could simply have dropped us off and come back 12 hours later to wait for our finishes. 

But he didn’t. 

He was there as we each finished our first 25-mile loop and headed back out for the second loop, always ready with water, Biofreeze, drop bags, or whatever we might have needed as we came through.

See?  I told you!  He is amazing.  He is awesome. 

He is my rock.  And I am so very grateful for his love and support.

No matter how crazy my idea or plan, he supports me. He supports my dream.  Actually, HE is my every dream … but he also supports this other crazy running dream.

I am, without a doubt, the luckiest person on the planet to be married to this man… and it saddens me to know that not everyone is so lucky and not everyone has this sort of support at home.

And because of that, I just wanted to write this, just to share some of his awesomeness with all of you, and to take this opportunity to tell him thank you.

Thank you, Corey, for all that you have done and thank you for the races and craziness yet to come…. I love you so very much …. forever and ever and ever and ever.  And then some!  (And then some more.)