Affirmation

Affirmation

This morning, an article was posted on a new local web site, BrewCity101.com, about the 2010 Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, which took place Sunday morning. I'm not trying to blatantly plug it here, but the article was written by me. I went to the marathon an observer and was completely swept up by the magic of the day. The runners, the families of the runners, the complete strangers who cheered on the runners - it was really a moving experience, and it was my absolute pleasure to spend the day capturing it in photograph, and later, capturing it in words.

I posted a link to the article on my Facebook, Twitter and DailyMile accounts, and I have been completely blown away at the amazing feedback it has received. Thanks to many of the incredible marathon runners, volunteers and friends who embraced the story and plugged it themselves on Twitter, it's reached more people than I ever dreamed it would, and I've been told by many that reading it moved them to tears.

I'm one of the only people I know who has always known what she has wanted to do her whole life. I think I knew I wanted to write at the age of five, when my 1st-grade teacher sent me to the principal's office to read him a story I had written based off the classic fable "The Tortoise and the Hare." I continued to write just because I loved it. It was the only thing I'd ever done where I really felt I had actual talent. So I took that talent to journalism school, and did very well there. But after college, it just kind of.... stopped.

This article was the first I'd had published since my senior year at Ohio University. I was incredibly nervous about it being posted, and was so worried that no one would like it. It has made the rounds all day through social media, and I sit here, tonight, with a gigantic smile on my face that just won't go away. I was happy to write about the marathon, and happier to be able to spend some time with those who competed and cheered on the sidelines. I have never run a marathon, and just completed my first half a month ago, but I can honestly say the pride I have in this article is akin the the pride a marathoner must feel when crossing the finish line. For a writer, our medal is making even the tiniest affect on our readers' emotions. I feel like a winner today. And the feeling of having whatever talent might still exist somewhere within me affirmed is incredible.

If only my principal could read my story now.

If you'd like to read my article, "Keeping Heart: The 2010 Lakefront Marathon," you can do so here. Be sure to look around the site while you're at it. I'll be contributing content here and there as time goes on.

(P.S. The photo above is one I took at the finish line on Sunday. I'll post more of my favorite photos from the day in the next few days)