I clutch my side. “Oh no.”

“Your stomach?” Andrew asks.

I nod. Thank the heavens there’s a porta-potty at mile marker five. I jog ahead of my friends and then I’m sprinting, totally out of breath, knee on fire. I need the bathroom. Need the bathroom now.

Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go.

I barely make it. Andrew and Liza are nice enough to wait for me while I go to the bathroom. Ever since I gave up ibuprofen for Tylenol, I haven’t had to go as often, but it still happens. Just my luck I need to go during a twenty-two-miler. I hate my weak stomach.

I hit an all-time low scraping the energy gel gunk off my fingers with toilet paper. Little bits get stuck to my hands. Sweat rolls down my face. Gross. It’s so damned hot in the porta-potty and my stomach hurts and I can’t tell if I need to vomit or use the bathroom. I’m a sweaty, disgusting mess. Ugh.

“Thanks, y’all,” I say when I’m done. “I don’t think I could finish without you.”

Andrew pats my back. “We couldn’t finish without you either, Annie.”

For the final five miles, we don’t talk at all. None of us has the energy. I can’t run fluidly anymore—I’m doing a sort of limp run. My knee throbs. Dr. Sander’s voice fills my head: “I have to tell you, I’m not sure if your knee will make it through the race.”

The 0 mile marker comes into view. I let out a sob.

“Thank God!” Andrew gasps.

Cheers erupt as we pass the mile marker. I walk it off for about thirty seconds but then I start to collapse. Matt grabs my elbows. Holds me up. Lowers me to a beach towel. It feels like a hundred bees are stinging my legs at once. Sweat streams down my face, burning my eyes.

I start crying. Liza sprawls out on the towel next to me. Andrew bends his head between his knees. I lean to my side and vomit all over the pavement. Not again.

Matt unsnaps my knee brace and Bridget hands him an ice pack. A peeled banana appears in my hand. Thank goodness. I don’t think I could’ve peeled it myself. I stuff it in my mouth, nearly choking on it. I just got sick but I could eat an entire grocery store. Matt lifts a cup of lemon Gatorade to my lips. I take a sip but end up spilling the rest all over my blue tank top. The yellow blends with the blue to make a gross-looking green spot on my chest.

He moves to help Liza stretch and Bridget is making Andrew take Tylenol. This is crazy. If I barely made it through twenty-two miles, how will I survive twenty-six?

Kyle never even made it to twenty-two miles. The furthest he ever ran was twenty. Just thinking of that makes the tears pour down my face even harder. He never made it here. I’m not sure I can make it again.

“Matt, I can’t,” I ramble. “I can’t do the race. How am I gonna run four more miles? It’s too much. It hurts. It hurts.”

“Annie, you got this,” Matt replies softly. “I won’t let you hurt yourself. Your knee’s barely swollen today. Our exercises are paying off—”

“I can’t,” I say through my tears. “My stomach. I can’t.”

Two hands grasp my ankles. Jeremiah kneels in front of me. “Annie. You are not quitting. You can do this, understand?”

Snot is pouring out of my nose.

“Annie,” Jeremiah says again. His voice sounds far away. “Drink this. Now.”

Another cup appears in front of me. “I can’t. I can’t. It hurts.” My stomach feels like it got turned inside out. I lean over and get sick again, right in front of him. I clutch my side. He suddenly stands up. I grossed him out.

But then I feel him sitting down behind me, stretching his legs to cradle mine. His arms circle my middle. “I’ve got you. Relax.” I lean against his chest, working to catch my breath. Matt glances away from examining Andrew’s ankle and smiles when he sees his brother with me.

Jeremiah whispers in my ear, “You are going to finish this for him. You will.”

That just makes me cry harder. I blink away my tears, staring at Jeremiah over my shoulder.

“Kyle’s counting on you, Annie.”

Marathon Training Schedule~Brown’s Race Co.

Name Annie Winters

Saturday

Distance

Notes

April 20

3 miles

I’m really doing this! Finish time 34:00

April 27

5 miles

Stupid Running Backwords Boy!!

May 4

6 miles

Blister from HELL

May 11

5 miles

Ran downtown Nashville

May 18

7 miles

Tripped on rock. Fell on my butt