Philly Achilles takes on Nashville
This year our Philly Achilles family took a “field trip” to Nashville, TN for the St. Jude’s Rock n’ Roll marathon series held on April 25, 2015. As usual, we travel quite well together.
My take on this trip is from a volunteer perspective and also from the perspective of being the wife and mother of two of the athletes in the group. Pretty much on this Nashville trip my volunteer duties consisted of standing for an insane amount of time at Mile marker 1.7 on the half marker course with Reenie McCool (Pat McCool’s lovely wife) and Elizabeth Encarnacion (our volunteer Philly Achilles road trip photographer, who also happens to be married to our own John E.). We would then make our next destination the finish line area.
Our job was to pretty much be a cheering squad for our Philly Achilles group and the Nashville chapter as the guides and athletes went zooming by us at lighting speed, making their way to the finish line of what would prove to be a very hilly and humid course. I should also note that as volunteers, we were quite thankful that the rain and especially the predicted thunderstorms stayed at bay. Just as it can be an extra challenge to run in the rain and a storm, it is no fun as a volunteer to wait on the sidelines getting drenched to see your loved one cross the finish line.
I digress…so after cheering and yelling out (BTW…I’ve been told I have a pretty big mouth when it comes to calling out the athletes and spotting them from a great distance away. I will take it as a compliment and wear the title with great pride! Why you may ask, because I love this group immensely! ☺) each athlete’s team, we start making our way back to the finish line. I’m quite sure that as “cheerleaders” we walked some ridiculous amount of miles that day. Has anyone ever thought of giving medals to the cheering squad? It really is a lot of work involved. ☺ Reenie and I eventually parted ways with Elizabeth. She had mapped out to perfection the best locations for her to get a great shot of the athletes’ right before they crossed the finish line. Reenie and I walked long the walking bridge, stopped and took a few photos and just really enjoyed each other’s company. Pat McCool got a gem with Reenie! We missed Pat but I’m glad Reenie got a chance to hang out with us this time. Finally, after a very long walk and too many hills to remember, Reenie and I made our way to the Achilles tent that the Nashville chapter had arranged. I was also making mental notes of things that this chapter did that I thought our group may also be able to benefit from. Shortly, after arriving at the tent, Joe Schmidt, Reenie, and I made our way to the finish line (or as close to it as we could get) to see our first athlete cross. It was Team Kinzey! They looked great. Rodney looked like he had taken a shower; his hair was completely wet from the humidity. The best part was that Team Kinzey (Rodney, Steven, John E. and Ritanne) were all wearing smiles. It was Steven’s first time guiding in a race and based upon the smile on his face from the pictures I think he enjoyed it. Next was Team Tom. His team (Brooke and Zach) were also sporting smiles. The crew just kept rolling in. Next up was my hubby with Team Chris (the Garber’s…somewhere along the course Charlie had to take a puke break! ☺)
I made my way solo back to the tent to check on my boys, Chris and Kinzey. I will admit that as cheerful as I can be, I am not really content until I know that Chris and Mac have completely their race safely. I want them to be able to achieve their goal times; however, I am equally as happy to know that they are uninjured and found time to have some fun on the course. When I finally took a picture of the two of them for this race, it occurred to the 3 of us that it was the first time they had run a half marathon together. So that was another special moment, thanks for Philly Achilles!
Reenie wasn’t too far behind me. Shortly after we were back at the tent we got word that Mark had twisted his ankle and would be leaving the course early. The action continued as Reenie and I went into volunteer mode of checking on Pitzie. She had taken a fall and I noticed Sheri calling out for help. Of course, it wouldn’t be Pitzie if she didn’t go out in grand style with a sense of humor, a busted lip that required ten stitches, and a fancy ride to the hospital on an ambulance.
Fast forward to after the race, most of us rested up to prepare for a night of fun in Nashville. We had dinner at Puckett’s…which was really good southern comfort cuisine. We then headed to Lonnie’s Karaoke Bar. I seriously think my brain was on country music overload! As fun as it was with the group, I’m personally thankful that everyone wanted to leave the place a little early. I’m sure I heard Zach Reese tell me more than once; he was NOT staying in a karaoke bar! We ended up back at the hotel lobby bar where we engaged in more laughs, drinks, and creating more memories.
I won’t even take the humidity, the hills, or the unfortunate injuries out of the equation because these were situations that once again exemplified the tenacious spirit that is within our group. Fight to the end, and give it all you have.
The Lynches’ often say that we are closer to some of the Philly Achilles group than we are our own family members. It could be that you get to learn a lot about someone when you are running for miles on end with someone and sharing stories about life, encouraging one another, and giving advice that may be tough to hear at times. Maybe it is the support of the volunteers as we wait with great anticipation (with cameras ready) to see each one of our Philly Achilles family cross the finish line giving high fives and still supporting one another. Maybe it is the nurturing traits that can be found in many of our volunteers. Perhaps it is that we are all so diverse and collectively we bring so much knowledge and experience to the group. We are even a little dysfunctional, with our own quirks and way of doing things…just like a family. I’m really not sure what it is that makes Philly Achilles feel like a family to us; I just know that we are proud to be a part of it! We can’t wait to the next adventure with this insanely funny, spontaneous, and caring group of family members!!
Holly Lynch
To view the photos, click here
