Sept. 25, 2017
By Karen Schiely
(Beacon Journal photographer)
I showed up. I ran. I barfed (and in the area reserved for the elite runners, no less, so I considered it to be overall a pretty spectacular day!)
My desire to try and get photos of everyone who came in after me on Saturday quickly gave into my body’s demand to be hydrated and fortified properly sending me to the medical tent. Definitely a part of the Akron Marathon that I didn’t think that I would see but let me tell you, if you should ever fall ill as a participant in this incredibly organized race, you are in good hands. There was an abundance of medical personnel there to assist folks.
Everyone in the medical tent, race organizers, volunteers and fans with funny signs deserve a big thank you for making Akron awesome with the Akron Marathon. And Paula Schleis deserves to be anointed with superhero status because I completed a half marathon because of her! My one and only half marathon, but I can now look forward to competing in shorter organized races and not be intimidated by them. Also a big thank you to Anne Bitong and the Akron Marathon staff for assisting us with our training runs.
Best of luck to everyone who continues with the Blue Line Beginners but the name really needs to be changed after running in that heat on Saturday. I recall Paula saying once it should be changed to Blue Line Badasses. I would definitely vote for that!