Corning Museum of Glass

When Ben and I were up for the Wineglass Marathon, we stopped by the Corning Museum of Glass to do one of my favorite things: glass blowing. Having grown up in Corning, glass blowing is not new to me. Our Christmas tree can be found adorned in glass ornaments and icicles that our family has blown over the years. We even have a few glass flowers strewn about the house from class field trips.

One of my family's favorite ornaments is a little purple egg shaped piece of glass my sister blew at a very young age. She was so young when she blew it that she could barely get any air into the pipe leaving us with one of the heaviest ornaments on the tree. 

This is the second year Ben and I blew pumpkins together, and the second year was better than the first!

Last year, Ben's pumpkin ended up getting broken in a rowdy house full of boys. Here's hoping we can  get these pumpkins safely through the holidays!

The 2012 Wineglass Marathon

Ben and I traveled to my home town of Corning, NY for the annual Wineglass Marathon. The marathon has been taking place over 30 years and was a big part of my childhood. I remember when my dad ran the marathon and we (the kids) were able to skip church to cheer him on. Skipping church was not allowed in my family except for this one weekend a year. The whole family would be together, volunteering, running, and cheering others on as they crossed the finish line.

I have always aspired to run the entire marathon myself, but have never been dedicated enough to complete the training required. I participated in the relay during high school but never ventured to the full marathon distance. I was so excited when the Wineglass half-marathon was introduced in 2011! It was the perfect reason to return to my hometown and participate in a race that held so many memories for me. When I took Ben in 2011, it was the first time I had brought him home to meet the family and show him where I grew up. After that experience, we knew we wanted to come back again, and this time Ben wanted in on the fun.

We arrived  late Friday night and had Saturday to enjoy the town and pick up our race packets. 

The race came early on Sunday morning, but we stopped and picked up Dunkin so I had something to survive on. The picture below with my brother and dad was taken about 10 minutes before the start of the race. It's usually at this point that I regret my decision to run and classify myself as insane. 

We finished! Ben finished his first half marathon in 1:36, what a speedy guy! I on the other hand did very little training in preparation for this race and barely crossed the finish line alive. Okay, that is an exaggeration  but I definitely learned my lesson. Train a little before you decide to run 13.1 miles!

Already looking forward to next year!