After hitting the top of the second hill with a petite lady she said our reward for going up was the downhill. I said I would rather have a Big Mac and a beer, I got much more. At Mile 4 and few other hill I was running just ahead of her. She was talking to another lady of the same age I figured. They could actually talk unlike me. We had a monster hill 1/2 mile ahead.

They discussed how they started running. 'A' had started three years ago, but two years ago she had been diagnosed with some type of lymphoma and was surviving without treatment at the moment. 'L' the petite woman I had talked to, told 'A' to keep running and being positive as she was a 15 year survivor of colo/rectal cancer. It was very touching to listen them get to know each other. They had an instant bond. I stuck out my hand a gave them a thumbs up as if that was enough or anything.

Short downhill before the monster hill we talked and both 'A' and 'L' were striving to run the whole thing.
Lisa said "I don't give a Ship how hard it hurts I'm gonna climb it and that from someone who can't ship".
I was looking to walk some of it till 'L' said "you gonna let a girl beat you?". I mention she had beat anything I done so far in my life. 'A' out raced 'L' and me. I hung with 'L' as she was pushing to her cardio max. We damn near made it. We only had a little walk and finished it running. We did 90% plus of the hill far more then I have ever done.

I ran the rest of the way with them. I was little afraid that the hill had taken to much out of 'L' but she beat me to the finish. 'A' and I finished close to each other, her first. We hugged and all that good stuff.
It was an honor to meet and get to encourage each other. Some days a marathon is just a long run and some day a 10K puts things back into prospective.