It was a memorable trip. We all decided at the last moment to drive down to Lake Placid for the marathon. I rented a car from Hertz and drove to Kingston to pick up Mama and Lala. We spent the night in Kingston and left early morning to Lake Placid. At the US customs, we were asked to report inside for an interview. The custom officials were quite nice and impressed when I told them about the marathon. We continued our journey to Lake Placid which took about 4 hours. Lake Placid is a quaint little town nestled between the Adirondack mountain range. It is the home of the 1930 winter Olympics and the race start was from the main Olympic stadium. Our hotel was walking distance from the main tourist hub and we walked along the main street in the evening. For dinner we went to an outdoor BBQ establishment where we had half pound burgers. Later on, we drove back to the city and played the 18 hole crazy golf….which Lala won! The race day was hot and humid with the mercury touching almost 45c. We were advised that if someone is not feeling well, they can pull out at the half way mark. The course itself was extremely hilly. It was twice out and back course and got quite boring in the end. The hill leading up the half way mark as well as the finish line was a killer. However, I never gave up and finished the race in a little over 5 hours. As I was approaching the finish line at the Olympic Stadium, the MC on the public address system said” Please welcome the brave Mr. Ziyad Rahim who’s come all the way from Canada”. It was great finish and Nadia, Mama and Lala were there to cheer me on. The medal was a disappointment, but since it was the inaugural race, I am sure the race directors would improve the shortcomings next time around. After the race, I went for a massage and later that evening, we drove back to Kingston and after dropping Mama and Lala, we headed back to Toronto.
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