Hey all,

Over 13,500 packed the streets of Philly to run in the ING Philadelphia Distance Run.  I am proud to say that all members of "Team McGraw" who started the race all finished!!!  It was such a beautiful day in the city as the sun was rising behind William Penn who stands tall on top of City Hall.  The start of the race was fast as everyone tried to keep up with the front runners from Kenya and Ethiopia.  Even my dad's teammates Greg Luzinski and Larry Christenson ran the first 1/4 mile in support of our team.

It was a beautiful course that wound through the historical city of brotherly love.  We passed Old Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was John Hancocked and then ran around Washington Square then back toward the Philadelphia Museum of Art, out West River Drive, across the East Falls Bridge, and then returned along the Schuykill River via Kelly Drive to the finish line at Elkin's Oval.  Even after 13.1 miles finishers ran up the art museum steps with fists in the air like they were ROCKY!!!

I finished four minutes ahead of my goal @ 1:26:00 and then got to the fence to cheer on the rest of our Team members!!!  Jeff McMahon and I ran back to support team member Debbie Persoud, who despite being injured at mile 4 continued to run with heart and finish the race.  "YGB Debbie!!!" 

We had a great end of race celebration at Rembrandt's in the Fairmount area of Philly....  We would like to thank them for hosting our victory celebration.  What a great warm up to NYC.... Here we come!!!  Hope everyones training is coming along well!!!

MM