First of all, I want to thank everyone for being supportive and encouraging me throughout my marathon trainings to completion of this marathon.  It meant a lot to me and there was no way I could complete my 4th Chicago marathon without my friends and family's love.  

I am happy to let you know that I have finished my 4th Chicago marathon!  The time was a bit disappointing (3 hours 42 minutes) but considering the tough weather condition, I think it was a success.  The starting temperature was around 70F but around 10:30 AM, the temperature rose up to 86F, which changed the event alert from yellow to red, a severe running condition.  The high temperature was very unusual in October for Chicago and many runners had a tough time.  I started off the race very well.  My legs were feeling loose, my mind was very positive and I was feeling fantastic.  For the first 15 miles, I was well within my goal of 3:10 as I finished my half marathon at 1:35:05, a pace of 7:10/mile pace.  I did not think I was going too fast but maybe I should have slowed down a little bit from the beginning because at mile 15, I felt a sharp cramp in my right calf and the cramp never went away from that point on. In fact, the cramp has quickly migrated to my hamstrings as well and at mile 16, I had to completely stop my running.   It was an emotional moment for me when I could not run or walk anymore because I felt like I was letting everyone down.  Throughout my training runs, I have never cramped as early as 15 miles and I started to become very concerned.  With 10 more miles to go and possibly risking an injury, I began to think that this could be my first marathon that I will ever quit on.   Then, I started to look around and saw all the runners and supporters around me;  There was a little girl holding "you are my hero!" sign, a couple of runners encouraging each others, and people were cheering for me to not give up,  "Go 3596! GO! YOU CAN DO IT!"  That cheers at mile 16, for some reason, was the best energy boost that I have ever experienced.  From mile 16 and on, instead of fighting for the Boston qualifying time, my new challenge became to "Finish the race!" I thought about my friends and families but most importantly, I thought about my friend David Sorin, who I have dedicated this race to.  David was not going to let me quit the race and he was with me step by step.  From mile 16 to the finish line, I was in "the zone" and I just kept talking myself to "somehow keep moving forward and don't quit!".  I apologize if I did not recognize some of the people that came to cheer for me but I was just determine to do the best I could and my last 2 hours of the race was sort of a blur in my memory.  My pace from 16 miles to the end, I believe I ran at 10:00/mile and without David, there was no way I could even accomplish what I did.  He made sure that I will use every ounce of my energy to cross that finish line! 

    As I crossed the finish line, I pulled my arms up in the air and showed a big smile.  Even though my tank was completly emptied, I wanted to smile because I overcame the pain and sufferings for 10 miles long.  This marathon was another tough one and I did not come close to a qualifying time for Boston.  However, I know I can qualify someday as I prove in the past that I ran at 3:15.  With another hard training, I will come back stronger and fitter and you can bet that I will qualify for Boston soon.  I know many of you believed that this was the ONE for me to qualify but I hope you will continue to cheer for me in the future.  I will continue to be optimistic and I will never quit on what I started to do!    
Again, I want to thank my mom, my sister, my uncle and all my close friends for being there for me and I hope to see some of you at Chicago marathon next year!  Keep working hard! Nothing is impossible!