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Before anything else, it only seems right to acknowledge the two runners who lost their lives while doing something they loved. From the moment I heard, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. How life is so fleeting and fragile. I’m praying for their loved ones, for all those who witnessed the emergencies, and for the Beyond Monumental staff and medical personnel. The idea that our banner day ended in tragedy is heartbreaking. The official statement can be found here and I’m sure more details will come in the days ahead.

Now, I’m lucky enough to recount one of the best weekends in running I’ve ever had, which now has me feeling somewhat guilty.

BEFORE THE RACE

Together with the amazing, Lindsey Hein, I helped plan a shakeout run and celebration event with our local run specialty store, Athletic Annex. So, the days leading up to race day were full of finalizing all of the last minute details.

• Hand stamping 100 posters
• Hand making 100 stickers
• Designing and printing signage
• Designing and sharing content
• Finalizing details with the venue
• Coordinating with our sponsors

Leading up to the weekend, Lindsey was worried we wouldn’t sell enough tickets to our celebration event. I told her we would sell out our 100 tickets and everything would be OK. Luckily, I was right. And I’m usually a pessimist… but if there’s one thing I know - it’s that runners love running and they want an excuse to wear their medals and talk to other runners about their race. Not to mention - meet Olympian and National Champion, Emily Infeld.

I also sit on the Board of Directors for Beyond Monumental, so I always volunteer at the expo. I had every intention of only volunteering this year since I ran the Marine Corps Marathon a couple weeks before, but when we announced our new legacy program, I had to run to get my 5 year medallion for the half. The legacy program celebrates 5, 10 and 15 year milestones for one distance - they don’t have to be consecutive. This was my 8th Monumental half and I’ve done the marathon twice. I’m already signed up for the half again next year. Gotta get that 10 year medallion next.

My race weekend really started on Wednesday when I got to meet Abby Anderson from Nashville to interview her for my podcast, Finish Lines & Milestones. She is sharing her story on social media so go follow her @runningforseven and listen to her episode - 133. Abby lost her mom 8.5 years ago to a heart attack as a result of an eating disorder. Her mom loved running and so does Abby. Abby is honoring her mom through running and also lifting up others through running interviews called “Running Buddies”. So, after we recorded at the Carmel Library, we shared some sandwiches and did a running interview on the Monon. A lot of her interviews are with nonprofits in hopes of giving them a platform to reach others. More on Abby later.

On Thursday, I packed a checked bag size suitcase, my toaster 🤪, and all of the event stuff - and headed downtown. I went straight to my expo shift and worked in our new Legacy Lounge from 4-7. The best surprise was getting to work the shift with my friend and queen of the Indy running scene, Abby Prentice. If you don’t know her already - you should. The expo this year was double the size - two giant halls of the Indianapolis Convention Center.

Working the Legacy Lounge was so much fun because I got to meet a lot of the people who have participated in our events every year since it started in 2008. And many who have done it 10+ times. There are a few videos I took of runners like these I hope to share soon. I also got to see so many friends - including Amy and Jamie Shinneman who are the reason for Team Humbly Courageous, the team I ran for. Amy was episode 87 of Finish Lines & Milestones. She was diagnosed with a rare form of muscular dystrophy at the age of 44 after living without answers her whole life. 

Lindsey got in town mid-afternoon and made her way over to the expo. It was so nice to finally hug her again after not seeing her in person since May when we did our event for the Indy Mini. She brought me the funniest snack - treats called Chunk Nibbles. Not sure why the name gets me so much but the fact that people sat around a table and settled on a name like Chunk Nibbles blows my mind. In case you're wondering, they are delicious.

When my shift was over we walked to my car in the parking garage and Lindsey got a good laugh from seeing my toaster riding shotgun. If you think it's crazy I packed a toaster, just know that a girl told Lindsey she's flown with one in her suitcase so I'm not the craziest person out there. 

A former coworker and friend of mine, Josh Rodgers, is the General Manager of the now Michelin Key hotel, Bottleworks. Thanks to Josh, I've gotten to stay downtown before the Indy Mini and Monumental. It's a stunning hotel located in the Bottleworks District of downtown, a mixed-use development on the site of the former, historic Coca-Cola Bottling Plant, transforming the industrial area into an entertainment, culinary, and retail destination.

We got checked in, hauled all of our event supplies to our venue space, and headed across the street for my favorite pre-race pizza, Abbicco. It's in The Garage Food Hall which has a ton of restaurant options. 

Being the procrastinator that I am, I still needed to finish editing my Friday episode of the podcast - episode 133 with Abby Anderson. I was kicking myself and was up until nearly midnight getting it all done and posted. It was worth turning around quickly. 

Friday morning, we hosted our shakeout run with Athletic Annex. In case you don't know, a shakeout run is a very short, easy jog, typically 20–30 minutes, done to get the blood flowing and help calm pre-race nerves. I met my Athletic Annex friend, Larry Coblentz (episode 9 of FLAMS), outside the Bottleworks Hotel to help him unload all of the BROOKS shoes for people to demo and to help him setup a table with freebies. Then, I finished my breakfast (a toasted bagel with peanut butter and honey) and got ready to run. 

We learned a couple days before that renowned coach, Jeff Cunningham, was also hosting a shakeout run at The Bottleworks Hotel - also at 9am. Lindsey interviewed Jeff for her podcast, I'll Have Another with Lindsey Hein. She asked if he would be interested in combining shakeouts, but for whatever reason he didn't seem to want to. We worried it would be awkward and confusing for people to arrive at the hotel and not know which group was which. Turns out, it was pretty easy - anyone who was wearing BPN, CIELE or Bandit running brands were there for Jeff's run. 😂

The group that showed up for our run was amazing. I met Alyssa Eichholtz, Founder of Pennsy Run Club, for the first time in person. 

There was also:

• Ryan, Bryan, Christi, Caroline and Jill from Indy 
• Jay from LA 
• Nicole from New York
• Phillip, Danny and Caitlin from Charlotte 
• Levi from Northern Indiana
• Another Ali from Indy 
• A woman from Huntsville, Alabama whose name I can't remember for the life of me
• a handful of other locals and runners who traveled in town for the race

Right before we took off, my friend, Nathan Lam, episode 67 of my podcast, showed up! I'd never met Nathan in real life - he lives in Tulsa, OK. He was wearing a #StayPositive sweatshirt from Metastatic Mission, the nonprofit started by my friend Michael Hartnagel, episode 37 of the podcast. Nathan himself is a cancer survivor and his instagram is @cheezy_run because of his infectious, cheesy smile.

We took a group photo, and then took off.

It was raining a little bit when we started the run, but, thankfully, it stopped shortly after we started. The Bottleworks Hotel is very close to the start of The Monon Trail, our paved rail trail that goes north about 30 miles. I ran in some BROOKS Adrenalines and nearly forgot I tried on a different shoe they fit so great.

I tried to run with a few different groups of people. I got to chat with Levi from Northern Indiana who had bought one of my "Run the Mile You're In" tattoos for the race and was hoping to take an hour off of his marathon time (spoiler alert: he did). I met another Ali from Indy and ran for a while with Phillip and Caitlin from Charlotte. Then, at the turnaround, I realized there was a woman by herself, so I waited to run with her so she wouldn't be solo. I now know her as Nicole from New York. She was so sweet and humored me for this mural photo I've always wanted to take.

As tempting as it was to run back and forth to get an even three miles, I resisted the urge when we got back to the hotel steps. We went inside to the warm lobby and I grabbed a banana and my coffee. My friend, Mark Guyer (episode 59), came in and I got to introduce him to Nathan. A few minutes into our conversation (I think after I got done bragging about cheesy), he told us that his dad had recently been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Ugh. I hate cancer so much. Please say a prayer for Paul.

I chatted for a while and realized I was supposed to start my volunteer shift at the expo very soon. Thankfully, it wasn't raining so hard that I was going to need to wash my hair, but I also needed to get Lindsey set up to stuff goodie bags for our event. So, I dragged her with me upstairs to the space and got everything situated. Then, I quickly rinsed off, got dressed and ordered a ride.

When I got down to the lobby, I saw a few guys in the lobby looking like they were heading to the expo too (some of Jeff's guys) and offered them a ride. They'd ordered their own Uber already, but wished me a good race and I did the same. Little did they know they missed out on a Lyft driver that came prepared with carbs! I normally don't accept candy from strangers, but this was an exception. Five stars.

Got to the expo a couple minutes after it opened at 11am. I checked in with fellow board member, Maury Plambeck (episode 105), and headed to the Legacy Lounge. And what do you know, one of the other volunteers was Jill who I'd just seen at our shakeout run. Quick funny story about Jill - after the Indy Half at Fort Ben, I'd mistaken Jill for another runner I'd recently met, Mady. I yelled - Mady!!!! at her after the race and she had to break it to me that her name was in fact Jill and not Mady. Whoops. They really don't even look that similar. 😂 Mady also ran Monumental - more on her later. 

So, it was me, Jill and another volunteer, Danielle, who is the head coach for the girls cross country team at Cardinal Ritter High School. She was also manning the mile 20 water station on race day. Again, the legacy lounge was a fun spot to be because I got to meet a ton of legacy runners and see a lot of my friends.

My friend Preston Frazier (episode 11) from D.C. and his friend Aaron from Atlanta came by. Preston and I first met in the Fargo, North Dakota airport after the 2023 Fargo Marathon (I ran the half there as my 50th half in my 50th state *visited*). He was wearing his medal in the airport and I asked him how many marathons he'd run - 75 was his answer. He'd run 50 of them before his 50th birthday. So, I immediately invited him to be on my brand new podcast. 

Now, two years later, we're still in touch (mostly via email - he calls me his favorite podcaster but I'm pretty sure I'm the only podcaster he knows 😂) and he also ran the Marine Corps Marathon this year. Next week, he'll be in Arizona running the Every Woman's Marathon. He doesn't run half marathons. 

Nathan came to the expo around the same time so we got to spend a little more time together at the expo. He'd literally flown back from the other side of the world only two days ago. I remember asking him what time it felt like after the shakeout and he said midnight - so now it had to be feeling like it was the middle of the night. 

I also got to see Brendan Kelley (episode 108) with his friend Wil and their coach, Mark Guyer (who I saw earlier at the shakeout). These guys are all so speedy and I live vicariously through them when they talk about their big goals. Wil joked that if he didn't PR he was going to send a Venmo request to Mark for his money back - thankfully he didn't have to. 

Some of the people I got to see:
- Craig Thompson from the Carmel Runners Club who is getting ready to head to the Grand Canyon for their annual Rim to Rim trip 
- Caitlin (next episode! 134) and Drez Johnson 
- Michele Guyer who is postpartum and spectated with all of the kids (harder than running in my opinion)
- Alyssa Zeller my Ragnar teammate who ran her first marathon on Saturday with her sister, Ashely, who was also on our Ragnar team 
- Eileen Poore (episode 17 - still the most listened to episode of the podcast) who just came back from a huge surgery and ran her second half marathon post-op 
- Andrew Scott from Indy Runners who I'd never gotten to meet in person. We'd tried to plan a shakeout together but it didn't work out and they ended up partnering with Tracksmith for a successful run
- Max Glenn (episode 125) who ended up running a 91 minute half 
- Abby Anderson came to the expo again to ask more people "What's Your Why?" and this time she brought her husband, Nick, and mother-in-law, Debbie

- Rose Scovel (episode 40) volunteered with us at the Legacy Lounge in the afternoon and ran the marathon (she celebrated her 100th half marathon at Monumental last year
- Gareth Wilford (episode 131) he's one of the owners of our local run specialty store, Athletic Annex, and on a weekend like this he doesn't sleep
- Ashley Haynes (episode 38) my running buddy for Fort Ben and Monumental weekend and fellow board member came to work the Legacy Lounge after my shift ended
- Stephanie Woods (episode 86) was in the pacing booth with one of her dogs, Tsavo. 

Speaking of Stephanie, her husband, Timmy Howard (episode 54) came with his camera to get some shots from the elite athlete panel. When I first met Timmy, he was my friend's friend who was a photographer. Little did I know that Timmy was previously addicted to heroin and homeless. You should hear his episode and watch Inches to Miles, an Athletic Brewing documentary that follows Timmy's Ironman Lake Placid journey.

Last year at the expo, I moderated the elite athlete panel with Sara Hall, Stephanie Sherman, Ericka Kemp, and Dot McMahan. It was terrifying for me since it was my first time moderating a panel of any kind, but they were all incredible and it was an experience I'll never forget. 

This year, with Lindsey in town, she moderated a panel with Lucy Dobbs, Austin Nolan, and Anne-Marie Blaney. Lucy and Austin are local to Indy. 

At the same time, I was messaging with my internet friend, podcaster, and Brooks Running Collective member, Hillary Burgess. She'd made it to the expo, so I snuck away to say hello and meet her in real life for the first time. She's just as nice in person! 

After the elite athlete panel was the "fireside" chat with Olympian and National Champion, Emily Infeld. I'd had a few people - including Lindsey - ask me why it was called a fireside chat. Would there be fire? 

So, being the nerd that I am, I made the fire happen. People got a kick out of it. 

I'd seen Emily arrive and start to chat with people around the expo. I couldn't believe I was going to get to meet her. When I finally did, she was simply the kindest, sweetest, human on the planet. Standing with her and Lindsey made me feel like I was in a dream. Lindsey is someone I've idolized forever and getting to work with her now has me pinching myself constantly. And Emily Infeld is ...well... Emily Infeld.

The "fireside" chat was great. I wish we would have recorded the whole thing. There were three lessons that Lindsey had Emily share that I'll recap to the best of my ability. 

1. "You have to see the forrest through the trees" Reminding us to zoom out and focus on the bigger picture vs. getting caught up in one rep, one workout, one race.
2. "You're going to lose a lot more races than you win" Only one person can cross the line first for each race. You shouldn't count it as a loss if you don't win. You're missing out on so many other wins along the way. 
3. "Control what you can control" Don't compare yourself to other people and make yourself feel bad because you can't do something that someone else did. All you can control is what you can do each day to have a good attitude and give it your best. 

She also talked about her experience with body image and properly fueling her body after getting bad advice as a younger athlete. As a mom of girls - and as someone who has experienced disordered eating - I took all of this to heart. 

When I had a chance to ask a question, I asked Emily what her favorite post-race meal was. She said her husband, Max, loves McDonald's and fast food, so that's what usually happens. Salty fries and a Coke always sound so good after a run. 

Unfortunately, Lindsey hadn't gotten all of the goodie bags stuffed for the event, so we needed to get back to the hotel to eat dinner and get everything ready for our Saturday event. I was stressed. I'd wanted to have everything done before the expo, but that's simply never how things go. 

We walked out of the expo hall and realized traffic was awful due to construction and we'd need another method of transportation. Lindsey wanted to walk for the exercise but I was beat and also wanted to get back to the hotel as soon as possible to get everything done so I could attempt to rest up for race day. We walked for a while until we found a couple of Bird scooters and then scootered most of the way back. The scooters died when we were almost back, but at least it had saved us quite a bit of time. And scooters are fun it makes me feel like the kid that I am at heart.

When we got back to Bottleworks, the team let us into the venue and we got to work stuffing 100 goodie bags with Athletic Annex gift cards and hats, Noogs (a tasty fuel you need to try!), postcards, Bitchstix lip balm, and Previnex nourify protein powder. Lindsey's sister, Shelby, was in town from Bloomington along with Lindsey's nieces and they were commissioned to make a balloon arch for photo ops. I'd promised myself I'd never make another one after the blisters I got the last time I did it for a birthday party.

Lindsey kept calling me grumpy (in the most loving way) and she was right. I was tired and hangry and needed the work to be done so I could shove pizza in my face. We powered through it and got all the bags done. The balloon arch they'd finish in the morning. 

My friend Ashley wrapped up her volunteer shift and started making her way to us through the crazy traffic. I took her pizza order and we went back to The Garage Food Hall for more Abbiocco. Seriously their pizza is so good I'll eat it any chance I get. It's making me hungry as we speak.

It's now after 8pm and I was hoping for at least an hour to unwind by piecing together my flat runner and scrolling my phone in bed. We head back to the hotel and make a game plan for the morning - meet in the lobby at 6:45am and have Ashley drive to her work parking garage on the circle (about a half mile from the start).

 

And meanwhile back at home the kids are communicating with my husband through our Alexa and I get a notification that says "we're in the secret room downstairs, yes, we are in the house alive". Good to know. 🤪

I perfected my flat lay to make sure I had everything ready for the morning and then I climbed into bed. Ashley made me laugh by bringing a book to read. She maybe read three pages. I slept like a rock. 

RACE MORNING

My alarm went off at 5:45am to give me an hour to get ready. I have a fairly simple race morning routine. 

• Previnex greens 
• Coffee
• Toasted bagel with peanut butter and honey 

This routine helps me go to the bathroom before leaving the hotel. Speaking of, Bottleworks also has bathrooms outside of the rooms so when you're staying with your friend and don't want to blow up the bathroom you can sneak out to use a different one. Seriously, this hotel has thought of everything. There's also a water station right outside of our room. 

I was able to get down most of my bagel and took a Neversecond C90 carb drink too in order to make sure I was fully loaded. For my marathon I did a really good job of my three-day carb load. For this race, I'd been trying to get down enough carbs but didn't do the best job. I definitely didn't want to be under-fueled. 

We applied our must-have orange glitter freckles, covered ourselves in more body glitter, got dressed and headed out the door to meet Lindsey who was nervously waiting in the lobby. Lindsey had to be at the start before 7:20am for her role as start and finish line emcee. Ashley and I were aiming for a Team Humbly Courageous group photo at 7:15am. We dropped Lindsey near the circle, parked, and raced up to Ashley's office to use the bathroom one more time. 

We made it to the west steps of the statehouse just in time. There were 30 or so of us gathered for Amy and Jamie Shinneman. I was so happy to see that someone else had gotten Amy orange glitter freckles already. I offered some to Jamie, but he declined. 

After the photo, we all circled up around Amy for a prayer. Jamie told us that today marked exactly 7 years  since Amy's diagnosis. Seven... remember Abby, @runningforseven? The serendipity of it all made me cry. Not to mention what Amy lives with day to day. I was so happy I'd found Amy and got the opportunity to join their team for this race. 

We said our goodbyes and headed to our next team photo for my running coach, Rachel Sinders - Team RMR (Rachel Michelle Running). Thankfully it was right on the other side of the statehouse. We got a small, but mighty team photo of me, Rachel, Jennifer Nei (episode 33), and Lainna who still needs to be on my podcast. Rachel was running for fun, Jennifer was too but snagged a half PR! and Lainna PR'd her full marathon. Rachel is the reason I've PR'd my half and marathon in the last two years. So, if you're in search of a coach look no further.

OK, finally time to head to the corrals. But first, we went to drop our stuff at a running club tent. Technically, we're not members of any of the clubs, but I consider myself an honorary member of all of them. We made our way into the Fishers Running Club tent where I saw plenty of familiar faces. I put my gear bag next to Sara Farney's signature purple bath robe where I knew it would be safe (she's episode 30 of the podcast). I also saw a guy wrapped in an MCM blanket we got at the finish line of Marine Corps so I had to meet him. His name is Jay and I got to see him after the race too. 

Now to tell you a story that will be stuck in my head forever. No matter how many times Ashley has told me to forget about it. On our way to the corrals, we passed a porta-potty with a really long line. Nearby there was an orange construction porta-potty and while it looked like it was behind a fence there was a clear break in the fence where I saw some guys coming from. Thinking I was being a hero, I jogged back to the porta-potty with the long line and told them the good news - that there was another one they could use!  What's wild is the first woman I talked to asked me if I was Ally and proceeded to tell me she'd been listening to my podcast on her way to the race - and that she sees my best friend, Alyssa, as her dentist.

Well, this poor woman and a few others made the mistake of trusting me and when they got to the porta-potty they realized it was LOCKED. I felt so bad for convincing them to get out of line.... I hope I didn't cause too much stress and that they all found the pre-race bathroom they needed. Ashley and I both agreed that we would have gone in bushes behind that porta-potty but that's besides the point.

We ran into my friend and Ragnar teammate, Ashley Carter, who was in line for another bathroom. She paced her friend, Ashley, through her first marathon. 

Almost to the start. The start line for the race was new this year due to some construction delays that were out of our control. It was packed but we were able to move fairly quickly. Wouldn't you know it we ran into my friend and training partner, Becky Riley. I gave her a quick hug and had her follow me and Ashley through the crowd. We soon separated so Becky could get to B and Ashley and I were looking for the C corral and the 3:50 pace group. 

We'd decided to start with 3:50 because Stephanie Woods and our other friend Ann Berry were the pace group leaders - and Abby Anderson was planning to run with them in hopes of running a 3:47. So, it would be the perfect way for us to start the race. An 8:46/8:47 mile would hold me back from starting too fast and we'd have great company until mile 8 when the distances split. 

The waves started rolling and we crossed the start around 10 minutes after 8am when the race had started. It was so much fun to hear Lindsey's voice at the start and to see her, Emily Infeld, and so much of our team standing and cheering everyone on their way.

Loved how the new start gave you an instant view of the Colts stadium, Lucas Oil. 

MILE 1 - 8:49

Ashley and I chatted with a woman in the pace group we now know as Corey. She was so nice and we're now officially friends. The first few miles were definitely focused on settling in. I loved being with a pace group so I didn't have to worry about my splits.

Right after the first mile you see the Eli Lilly global headquarters. Many Lilly employees volunteer at the first aid station that's about 1.5 miles into the race.

MILE 2 - 8:48

Stephanie had told a guy before the start that she would have the group hold back a bit in the beginning miles, so we were right where we needed to be.

When we ran under overpasses, I would give a big "ow ow!" and others would chime in after. There's a spot in the Chicago Marathon where they have a similar vibe and they put a DJ down there this year. Next year we need to get someone to do that for Monumental.

One of my most favorite parts of the race is running through Monument Circle which some people were calling "Monumental" Circle. In Indy we call it "The Circle". There were a ton of spectators out and the monument in the middle of the circle was finally fully visible and not under construction (hopefully the statehouse follows suit for next year). 

Somewhere before mile 3 I took a gel. I again wanted to make sure I wasn't under-fueled. You don't want to end up in the position where you feel bad and wish you would have taken a gel sooner. 

MILE 3 - 8:49 

After the circle, you make your way out of downtown past the Indiana War Memorial and towards the Bottleworks District. We run right past the front of the hotel and Timmy captured it perfectly. I'm not in this picture - we didn't see Timmy until mile 5.

MILE 4 - 9:00

I think the 9 minute mile must have freaked Stephanie and Ann out because then we started to make up for it. Remember the importance of 7? There's a fire station on Fort Wayne and when we run by it Abby yells out to me - "Ally, look!" And it's the biggest 7 you ever did see for the Indianapolis Station 7 fire station. 

We still hadn't seen Timmy and my guess was that he'd be up on the next straightaway after we turn away from downtown. We make the sharp turn to head north and there are so many spectators. I remember seeing Alan Errichiello, President of the Fishers Running Club (episode 111) cheering on the left, and then not too much further up I spotted Timmy on the right. A photo montage ensued. 

MILE 5 - 8:34

Timmy road on his bike with us for a bit which always really impresses me with the fact that he has two gigantic cameras dangling and can ride with no hands.

MILE 6 - 8:39

Making up for lost time. Good thing Ann is a math teacher by trade - she was doing running math on the fly and I cannot. Around this time we started seeing Halloween candy spreads, costumes, and signs that said we were at mile "6/7". I'd already taken my second gel and was feeling great. I couldn't believe we were already almost to the point where we were going to split from the marathoners.

MILE 7 - 8:37

Yes, mile 7! So you know it was a special one for my girl Abby. I took a video of her and the mile marker.  Her hip ended up giving her trouble during the race, but while she didn't run her goal time of 3:47, she did run a 4:07. So, momma Suz was looking out for her

Just after mile 7, the half marathoners say goodbye to the marathoners. During my episode with Abby, she told me about how her mom would joke "losers to the left" when the races split at the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati. So, naturally, that's how we said goodbye. 

Just after the turn, I notice that there's a girl with a marathon bib, so I made sure she knew she'd made the turn for the half just in case she was delirious and didn't realize it. She had made the turn on purpose.

MILE 8 - 8:20

I told Ashley to remind me to take my salt at the next aid station since I'd forgotten to take any up until this point. I guess with the exception of at the start when Abby let me sip some of her pre-workout to take one. Thankfully the next station was super close. 

I hadn't looked at my watch the entire race so far and I decided I wasn't going to look at it at all. I mean, what was the point? I wasn't going for a specific time. But as you can tell by that split, we picked up some speed. The competitive person inside me was like, "hey, you ran easy the first 7 miles I wonder what's in the tank for the last half?"

And the great thing about Ashley is that she's literally up for any distance and any speed. Girl is a machine. So, I knew she'd do whatever I did while making it look easy.

Around this time we come across the 1:55 pace group and I see my friend and Ragnar teammate, Olga. I ask how she's going and she manages a groan. I try to say motivating things and then we keep going. Secretly I wonder if we can catch the 1:50 group.

MILE 9 - 8:11

The neighborhood around us had changed in the last two years since I'd run through it. A woman next to us asked what street we were on and commented how incredible all of the homes were. So many of them had been redone recently. Lindsey Hein had also lived somewhere around here but I couldn't remember exactly where.

On one of the streets I remember seeing a guy in a red #7 jersey and thinking of Abby. Seriously, the sevens were showing up. 

MILE 10 - 8:05

At this point, we'd finished the little turnaround jaunt that gets the needed distance for the .1 and we were turning left onto Meridian - three turns left now until the finish line. Ashley asks me how I'm doing and I tell her it hurts but it's a good hurt. I'm annoyed by some women behind us chatting effortlessly about mindless topics and it helps me go faster to attempt to get away from them. No offense to anyone who talks during a race because we definitely did in the first half, but it's quiet on Meridian with everyone working hard to the finish and I wasn't interested in hearing about Brittney's recent trip to Hawaii. 

MILE 11 - 8:08

Who knows exactly when either one of these things happened, but I remember seeing Tracie Hunter (episode 37) aka @indianarunnergirl dressed in her pop-tart costume that pop-tart actually sent her. I yelled that she looked delicious! She'd also been somewhere else on the course earlier on, but I can't remember where. 

I took my last gel - a pumpkin spice Gu that Abby had brought for me to try. It was so good. I'm a sucker for anything pumpkin.

And then I spotted my friend, Mary Pittman (episode 10) aka @teamaverageathlete on the left with her kids and husband, Cody. Cody was holding out a friendship bracelet and somehow I slipped my arm into it flawlessly - the bracelet said "ZOOM" the perfect mantra for the last couple miles. 

MILE 12 - 7:51 

The whole negative splitting thing was wearing on me. Mostly I was now feeling like I wanted to throw up my pumpkin spice Gu. And Meridian plays games with you because downtown looks so close but it's so far. 

Finally we make the right turn onto New York and I know the tents with all of the running clubs is right ahead. Again, seems so far away. We're moving though and I can feel the finish line. 

We turn left onto Capitol and the roar of the running clubs is so fun to hear. I wave to the familiar faces and focus on the last turn. Up on the left I see my friend Alex Baker (episode 6) aka @ketchuptocancer. He's wearing his ketchup outfit and I am so gassed I can't speak but I muster a wave. 

Then Timmy is next to us on foot. Running and taking photos - seriously next level. I swore he was on my right, but your mind isn't exactly thinking straight when you're nearly at the finish line of a race. 

Right on Washington and you can hear Lindsey's voice at the finish line. We can see the finish line and pass the 13 mile marker in the finish line chute. 

MILE 13 - 7:36 - last mile, best mile

And then there we are. Lindsey says our names as we prepare to cross the finish line and when we do we're greeted by hugs from Lindsey, Emily, and members of the Beyond Monumental team. 

FINISH TIME - 1:51:09

I hug Ashley's hat right off of her head in these photos captured by Terry Fletcher.

Lindsey of course has the mic and asks me about Team Humbly Courageous. I talk about my friends Amy and Jamie, about her muscular dystrophy diagnosis at age 44 and how Jamie pushes her so she can run her way. In the finish line picture of us you can tell I have tears in my eyes. 

I get my medal from fellow board member, Irma, and we take a few more finish line photos. 

Now, we decided to wait to watch the winners of the race come through. We saw another fellow board member, Mike Heard (episode 127), and met his daughter who had just ran her very first half marathon. We saw race founder Carlton Ray. 

And then we got word that the winner of the marathon would be coming through. Joseph Whelan broke the course record and achieved an OTQ (Olympic Trials Qualifier) with a time of 2:12:29. 

We watch more speedy guys come through. Local, Austin Nolan (last year's winner) came in at 2:16:04. His time was 26 seconds FASTER than last year's time and he was in 6th. The time for an OTQ was 2:16:00. Ugh. 

The women's champion was Amanda Mosborg with a time of 2:31:01 an OTQ. Local, Lucy Dobbs, was second and got her OTQ. There were a total of 14 OTQ performances on Saturday.  A fast day in Indy. 

We watched Lindsey interview both winners and considered staying to watch our friend, Shea Aquilano (episode 60), finish, but we decided to get moving to the club tents to get our warm clothes on. For what it's worth, Shea is an ultramarathoner and Nike athlete who was on my podcast before she turned pro. She's incredible and you should follow her journey.

We got to our stuff and put on warm sweatpants and sweatshirts over our clothes. I changed into different shoes which felt so good. I saw a ton of familiar faces and chatted with people about their races. My coach, Rachel, came up and something about our conversation made me realize I'd forgotten to pick up my legacy medallion after the race (something I feared I'd do even though I volunteered at the Legacy Lounge the last two days). Rachel said the line was so long she'd given up, so I decided not to go back for it. I found out later this was due to one of the medical emergencies that occurred. 

Ashley and I posted up at the fence to cheer for runners. Eileen had finished her race faster than the first post-op half she'd done in Columbus weeks earlier. I brought one of the megaphones my SIL had used at Marine Corps to cheer and started screaming at the top of my lungs for everyone making their way to the finish. We were at mile 25.8-ish, so the home stretch. 

I got to see and scream for:

• Levi Benton from the shakeout run who did take an hour off of his marathon time
• Becky Riley - my training partner who smashed her goal of a sub 3:30 
• Caitlin (Walsh) Johnson who had a tough day but showed up and finished 
• Stephanie and Ann with the 3:50 pace group
• Alyssa from Pennsy Run Club 
• Abby in her bright orange and now running with her friend Rachel 
• My friend Mady who I met while running the Indiana Women's Running Festival half. It was her first marathon!
• Alyssa Zeller and her sister Ashley 
• Logan Turner (episode 123) and his daughter, Nora, who also ran with Team Humbly Courageous  
• My North Dakota friend, Preston, finishing his 90th marathon 
• His friend, Aaron, who was in a daze and I have no idea if he knew who I was 

Somehow, I'd missed my very own sister, Morgan, who was finishing the half while I was cheering. She said she thinks she saw me. Who knows how that happened. Her husband, Mike, ran too. Congrats Siglers! 

We also saw who I now know is Barry Goldmeier "the joggler". He was juggling two beanbags AND dribbling a basketball wearing a Caitlin Clark jersey. I screamed WE LOVE YOU CAITLIN CLARK! I don't know what record he was going for on Saturday but my Googling shows he owns the world record for the fastest indoor marathon while juggling three balls - set in 2012. Runner's World did a story on him in 2018. I may need to track him down for my podcast... 

After each of my friends I got to see, I'd tell myself, "one more", but it was starting to get late and I needed to shower, eat, and prepare for our event. Spectating might have been even more fun than the race itself, so it was hard to leave. Eileen had parked nearby so we walked to her car and made our way back to Bottleworks. We first got cheeseburgers at Clancy's in The Garage Food Hall, and then we showered up.

THE EVENT

You should have seen me running around like a crazy person in my socks and wet hair trying to finalize all of the details for our celebration event that started at 4:30. The Bottleworks team is outstanding and so helpful. I'd hoped for a power nap, but it was clear I wouldn't be getting one. 

Lindsey finished her emcee duties around 3:30 and called me in a panic. With crazy traffic and dead scooters she was running back to the hotel. 

By 4pm I was ready to go.

Thankfully, Lindsey sent two of her friends to help with setup and Ashley had come back to help man the poster making station. Timmy was taking photos and showed up early to help. Him and Ashley got the microphones working and the graphic on the TV while I was getting my computer set up to help check people into the event. No matter how much you prepare and finalize details, there are always things that go wrong and things that pop up you completely forgot about.

People started showing up early. Not to sound like an asshole, but please don't show up early for events. The event organizers are not ready for you. 

We also had a group arrive without tickets and came up with a way to sell them at the door. So, not only did we sell out, but we also sold a few more than we intended. 

Recently, I'd discovered the local podcasters Hallie and Suketu Patel who host the Half Past Chai podcast. Hallie had just done the NYC Marathon (her first marathon), so I reached out to her to see if she'd want to come to our event - she came! I made her an NYC mug and she loved it. They are so sweet and Indy is lucky to have them both. Hallie will be coaching Suketu to his first marathon at NYC next fall. Please don't move to NYC! If there's one thing I regret, it's that I hadn't listened to the pronunciation of Suketu's name before our event (and there's plenty of it out there since he's a digital creator). For the record, it's Sue-Kay-Two. Or Kay-Two for short. Now I know. 

And everyone else showed up too! It was the perfect way to celebrate the day. 

• Trena Roudebush (episode 31) who paced the 4 hour group and ran her 86th marathon
• Renae Saager (episode 14) who I promptly connected with Hallie and Suketu who were seated behind her 
• TJ Dailey from MTC (episode 68) brought his daughter and her cross country teammates 
• Nita Brooks who won't come on my podcast
• My friends Katie Polivick (episode 122)and Megan Moore who always support me
• Stephanie and Ann - the queens of the 3:50 pace group came
• Eileen Poore came and worked for our sponsor TwentySixDiamond
• I also got to meet Eileen's friend, Lupae who listens to my podcast and was the sweetest person ever and clearly such a good friend to Eileen
• My coach, Rachel, and her friends came along with another Team RMR runner, my friend Allison Martin 
• Bill Bradford (episode 116) came and got to make a poster with a shiny new PR
• Christi Dee (episode 3) aka @this_blonde_runs
• Hillary Burgess and Keegan Kok from Brooks Running Collective came 
• Nathan Lam from OK and Preston Frazier came (Preston overslept - running 90 marathons will do that)
• Bryan Stoffel, someone else local who needs to be on my podcast was there
• Mary Pittman from Average Athlete came to support our community 
• Levi Benson from Northern IN came 
• Phillip from Charlotte who came to the shakeout and crushed his race was there
• Brian from Indy Runners was in the house 
• Founder and CEO of Previnex, our sponsor, David Block also came and set up a table 

We also had some VIPs from the running community - although everyone who came is a VIP in my heart...

• Hawi Keflezighi was there and is so kind 
• Amy Yoder Begley came but I didn't get to meet her
• Emma-Grace Hurley who runs for ASICS and won the half last year came and I got to officially meet her in person - she's going to do big things 
• Stephanie Sherman who I got to interview on the elite athlete panel last year came and I'm mad I didn't get a photo 
• Gareth Wilford (episode 131), one of the owners of Athletic Annex I mentioned earlier came despite working who knows how many days straight leading up to this 

And of course we had Emily Infeld - Olympian, National Champion and our guest of honor for the event.

You can see and download all of the pictures from the event here. Thank you, Timmy, especially for the ones of me stuffing my face. 

Thank you again to all of our sponsors:

• BROOKS
• Athletic Annex
• Foot Levelers
• Previnex
• Rachel Michelle Running
• TwentySixDiamond
• Stretch Lab
• The Bottleworks Hotel
• Athlete Bouquets

And after the event ended, we cleaned up and while we waited, Emily signed one of her photos of herself for me. I am going to frame it and hang it by my treadmill. 

It says (I think), " Ally, So lovely to meet you and hang. So impressed with you and can't wait to see you again! Keep believing. - Emily"

And that's how you end a recap of an absolutely incredible weekend. Let's do it again next year on November 7th!