Heart to Heart International Half Marathon, Houston, TX, September 19, 2023

Race #88

On September 19, 2023, Mikie’s 74th birthday, I ran 13.1 miles in fairly steamy conditions in Houston at Memorial Park to complete a virtual half marathon. This would have been #88 for Mikie (it is #14 for me). This race was run to benefit Heart to Heart International, which helps to improve access to health care all over the world. I have really only been training for about 2 months, but I have had some heavenly inspiration in my training. And the goal of finishing Mikie’s half marathons has definitely helped me survive the last 4.5 months. In previous blog posts, Mikie had been sharing “13.1 Reasons Why I Run Half Marathons” and he only got through #11. And although he won’t be able to finish his reasons, I thought I would share the 13.1 Reasons Why I Run Half Marathons. 

But mine are pretty simple… 

Reason #1: Mikie 

Reason #2: Mikie 

Reason #3: Mikie 

Reason #4: Mikie 

Reason #5: Mikie 

Reason #6: Mikie 

Reason #7: Mikie 

Reason #8: Mikie 

Reason #9: Mikie 

Reason #10: Mikie 

Reason #11: Mikie 

Reason #12: Mikie 

Reason #13: Mikie 

Reason #.1: Mikie 

The suddenness of Mikie’s passing and trying to deal with the shock and grief has been something that I wasn’t sure how I would deal with, but training and working to complete 13 half marathons in Mikie’s honor and to help him reach his goal of 100 Half Marathons by his 75th birthday has been something that has truly helped me survive. My training and running has been my therapy…I picture Mikie there with me, he cheers me on wherever I am running and I have lots of good conversations with him. And by training in the morning, I get to watch the sun come up, which helps remind me that Mikie would want me to keep going, that the sun will keep coming up every day, and that when I feel the sun shining down on me, I can feel Mikie smiling and still loving me. I am still trying to figure out how to live without him, and I am not sure I ever will completely, but the best I can do right now is to try and wake up each day and honor Mikie in everything I do. I hope I always make him proud. 

Next half marathon (#89) is October 29th, the Houston Half Marathon. It will go just a few blocks past our house in Houston. I definitely know Mikie will be with me every step of the way!