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Most of you know that I hail from a large family. It could go without saying that I've missed them this year, but I've said it already and it's a fact. I'm the 8th of 9, and number 9 is my little sister, Kristen, two years my junior. We had our share of battles when we were young, stupid stuff like "you used my brush" - normal stuff for sisters. We grew out of that, fortunately, and now I'm her biggest fan. She's got 5 kids and has grown up to be an amazing, beautiful woman...my sister and my friend.
The road to Sweden hasn't been smooth for Kristen and Rob. It all started with a challenge, "if Jeff will run that Stockholm Marathon with me, we'll come for a visit.". She knew enough not to request that I run, we're nothing if not realistic. I pimped my husband out for a visit from my sister, and I'd do it again. In this 10+ months of planning for "the visit", Kristen has trained through a torn labrum (hip) that requires surgery and Jeff had set his sights on beating the time he ran the Twin Cities Marathon at age 25.
I, however, simply wanted to see my sister.
Initially, Kris and Rob were to arrive Wednesday at 2:55 pm. However, storms in Chicago delayed their arrival until Thursday morning. Kris would have to adjust to a new country and 7 hours time difference, preparing to run 26.2 miles on Saturday. Oj. Once again, I'm falling short on words to really tell you how I felt, anticipating their arrival. As we stood in the airport at baggage claim, I looked at Jeff and couldn't speak...just anticipating! If you know me at all, you know that, while I wear my heart on my sleeve - and you can usually tell what I'm feeling by looking at me, I'm not a "crier". This year, however, I've turned in to a big cry baby. I was teary eyed just thinking they were in the same country as me...and when we spotted them coming towards the escalator, in the words of my Jersey Days, "fuh gettabout it". I was a drippy-eyed, full-faced-grin sister, and Kristen looked about the same, except with cute, curly hair. I was jumping up and down repeating, "there she is, there she is!". For the reserved Swedes surrounding us, it
was quite a show, I'm sure.
When we arrived at our home, I shuffled a jet-lagged, exhausted Kristen over to the church, where the majority of my Swedish friends were enjoying their Thursday lunch. I couldn't wait to show off my sister and knew this would be the best time to catch everyone. She was met with kindness, warmth and a microphone in her face. Yep, our dear Deacon, Mickeala hopped on the microphone, pulled Kristen into her arms and introduced "Maria's sister" from South Dakota...and proceeded to ask Kristen what she hoped to find in Sweden. Uh oh, I'm in deep sh*t. As we left the church, Kristen looked at me and flat out said, "you are so dead".
We spent that first afternoon walking through the woods to the bay near Gunnel's home, where we enjoyed fika on the rocks with her. We introduced Rob and Kris to the delicious fresh salmon at dinner that evening and we were all off for a restless night of sleep, preparing to depart for Stockholm on Friday morning. For the second week-end in a row, Jeff and I were off for an "adults only" get-away. A speedy ride on
the XJ2000 train from Gothenburg, 2 minutes on the T-bana (subway) in Stockholm and we were standing in front of my new favorite hotel of all time, The Story Hotel. We hopped back on the T-bana and made our way to 1912 Olympic Stadium to get Kristen and Jeff registered. Kristen commented on the subdued atmosphere at the Marathon Expo, she had run 6 marathons prior to this and wasn't sure what to expect from her international experience. More on that later, but let me just say she got a taste of how much more reserved/dignified the Swedes are in their demeanor. We were super excited and when the man handed Kristen her packet, I hollered "WhoooHooo" from where I was standing about 15 feet away and was greeted with - in Rob's words - "the stink eye" from a woman helping with registration. It didn't dampen our enthusiasm, nor did it calm anyone's nerves.
After registration, we wandered over to Gamla Stan, Stockholm's "Old Town" neighborhood, where we saw The Royal Palace, snapped photos and stopped at an outside cafe for a late dinner. We made our way back to The Story, where Jeff and Kris suited up
for a short run and Rob and I hopped into a couple of bar stools for some prime people watching and a couple of cold beers. A great day.
Saturday dawned early...let me tell you about the light adjustment here. Remember how I was complaining about how dark it was in Sweden? I grumbled for months about the oppressive lack of light...remember? Now we have the opposite effect - I'm SO not complaining, but it does present challenges when the sun sets ant 11 pm and rises at 3:30 am. Challenges like falling asleep when it's light out and staying asleep when the sun rises! Again, SO not complaining about light - just an observation.
Rob and I both were up very early and went down to the lobby to let the runners sleep. We took advantage of the free wifi, Rob skyped home and caught everyone awake and then we had a great breakfast. We spent the morning walking around some shops and I showed them the Saluhall that I love so much. Then it was time to dress and psych up for the race. Kristen helped Jeff gear up by bringing a Sioux Falls Running Club
shirt with "Minnesota USA" on the back to go along with hers that said "South Dakota - USA". The race start time was 2:00 pm, which was a challenge for Kristen in that she had only run morning marathons. To top it off, it was unseasonably warm in Stockholm with a high that day of 77 degrees.
It was a great treat the Rob and I were joined by two fantastic, young Swedish women to see some of the run. Frida, who has worked at Jeff's brother's camp in Northern Minnesota and Julia, who is Gunnel's granddaughter. They were both at the first stop, about mile 5, then Frida had to take off. Julia stayed for two more stops, getting more and more into the spirit. Now I'd like to talk about "the spirit" or the subdued atmosphere that I mentioned earlier. Let me start by saying that I completely respect and appreciate the Swedish people. I'm reserved when you first meet me, as well. I'm also very orderly, like the Swedes, so I'm not knocking the Swedes. However, I was surprised that people were even reserved along the race course. Initially, I wanted to fit in...then I thought,
"I frankly don't care if these people think I'm loud, this is a big challenge and I want to cheer people on". I even think Frida and Julia were a little shocked and perhaps wanted to pretend they weren't with me. I could never run a marathon...never. However, I totally get into the spirit of the run and can't help loudly encouraging the runners. This was helpful for Jeff and Kristen spotting us, as it was an incredibly dense running crowd and it was hard to spot them...they both commented that they could hear me on the approach.
Julia had never watched a marathon before, but writes a health and beauty blog, so was really interested and asked a lot of questions. We had a little break between our 2nd and 3rd stops, so we found a great spot on the balcony of the theatre and enjoyed a refreshment while explaining "Cliff blocks, energy drinks and Body Glide" to her. Rob and I both pretending we knew. By the third stop, she was totally getting in to the spirit and cheering a bit! Both Kristen and Jeff commented on the reserved crowd along the route and were surprised at
some of the music choices. Otis Redding's "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay",several installations of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" and there was no escaping, "YMCA". The marathon ended in Olympic Stadium with the runners taking their final meters on the track. Rob and I were both annoyed by the wedding that took place in the stadium - the groom came in at about the 3:30 mark. They stopped announcing and congratulating runners coming in and instead performed the half hour ceremony. If I had run 26.2 miles and come into the arena to the Wedding March, I would have been ticked. Don't accuse me of not being romantic - there were 18,500 registered runners for this race who trained hard and defied the heat to complete it...I just don't think a wedding DURING the race was appropriate...
We walked the few painful blocks to the very packed T-Bana and spent the rest of the evening trying to bring Krissy back from "the brink". Not on my watch, Krissy...you must eat!
The results are in. Jeff was disappointed that, in his words, "twenty five year old Jeff beat him". If it's any consolation, 41 year old Jeff
has a lot more to show for those 12 minutes...and I'm impressed. Kristen also reached her goal by completing her first international marathon and enjoying the experience. She claims to have officially retired from marathons. I got that on video, for you doubters. Both have some blisters, but those are temporary. In Kristen's words (likely borrowed from Coach Ruml), "pain is temporary, pride is forever".
We spent Sunday morning with a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and a waterside stroll to the Vasa Museum. We hit the train by 1 pm and spent the next 5 hours on a hot train being stared at by two different women. Kristen thinks it's the freckles, I just think it's rude.
Kristen and I had our Swedish massages this morning (Jeff was scheduled, but backed out...lucky me!) and now we're heading to the sea for a swim.
A huge THANK YOU to all those who watched our kids to make this happen! Mom & Dad, Anne, Julie & Tim in Sioux Falls. Dan & Suzi in St. Paul and Mark and Carina who had our kids all week-end. It was such a treat to have the time together. Watch for
the next blog...cliff jumping in Kullavik!
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Jan Jeremiason
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Congrats Runners!!
I was never a runner, but Joan and I both miss the incredibly beautiful walk from your place to Gunnel's seaside haven - I'm missing Sweden!