Greetings from Springfield! The Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon.

 That is correct!  After two years of Pandemic Hiatus, the Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon is back!    And, of course,   Cheryl us back to race it.   She was not very happy with barely missing a Master Trophy back in 2019.   And taking two years off has not helped her cool her jets.    AND.....  After a THIRD PLACE FINISH at the Arkansas Marathon this year. ( OverALL finisher!  That is...) She feels that now is her time to shine.  No pressure.

It has been a while since those first humble beginnings, but The Lincoln Half Marathon was the first half marathon Cheryl ever attempted.   There is a tradition here. And when looking back at those early pioneering days of racing,  it is nice being able to have a race that catalogs how far you have traveled down this road.  

 And this year brings with it something new... Friends!   ( Or "Running Acquaintances"  Or "Hostage Runners"  Or "Enslaved Pacers"  You pick the label.) The Zakoseks have followed us here to see what all the Hub Bub and History is about.   

The history part is actually not too much of a mystery.  They were fortunate enough to tour this place back in their grade school days.   So many of the sites and parks are familiar to them.   Not to mention they actually LIVE in this state...   It would be like living in Michigan and never seeing the Great Lakes!

To kill time, we decided to visit the actual Capitol building.   To say this building is a work of art is an understatement.  Everything is Marble with gothic, Greek, and Venician sculptures. There were Murals and stained glass everywhere you looked. I took so many pictures, but none of them truly capture the actual sights.

While we were there,  the government was in session with a bunch of lobbyists running around waiting for the congressmen to vote on various bills. We did not pay much attention to that, but I did note that elements of the Trucker Convoy showed up to make a showing.   Not many of them were left after driving to Washington, but it was nice to see a few folks and talk to them.  

After visiting a few more shops,  we headed to our Hotel and waited for the Expo and check in.   To say it was a disaster and disorganized is an understatement.  I'll be brief and just say that there are no pics of the Expo, because Cheryl and the Zakoseks snuck into the Expo early and got all of their swag before the doors opened up. But before they could finish,   the line opened up for the hotel.   We did not get there fast enough and had to wait in a line that stretched back to Chicago!   After 30+ minutes!!!!   We finally got our rooms. 

Tomorrow is the big day and the rain that was predicted is now predicted to hold off until after the race.   We ate a nice dinner at the Olive Garden and the runners should be ready to rumble bright and early at 7:30 A.M.   I will be the only official Spectator on this one, as Even Pam will be joining in on the Half Marathon run.    With a little luck,  the temps will hold and the rain will be avoided...  As for the wind,   I head that 20 mph gusts are still on the forecast.   We shall see how our Heroes will face this challenge in our next Exciting Blog Post!   Thanks for stopping in.

More Architecture from the Dome.