A little over four hours later, once they’ve grabbed food, walked around the town, seen some of the Olympic sites, and loaded a few more groceries into Lemuel’s car, it’s time to head to the finish line. They’d managed to snag glimpses of Sarah at the seven and nineteen mile marks; she’d been doing well, running at a decent pace, and on track for what Lucas knows her goals are. He hopes the final miles have also been good to her, because she’s been working so hard and he knows if she comes in over five hours, she’ll be disappointed in herself.

Sarah’s parents are there when he, Jordan, Marcia, Lemuel, and Hamil arrive. They report that they saw Sarah not long ago at the twenty-three mile mark, and that it shouldn’t be long before she arrives. Lucas checks his watch and is happy to see that it means she’ll make a great time. He scans the arriving runners, watching person after person slip across the line.

“They all look exhausted,” Marcia comments. “This is weird, self-inflicted torture.”

Sarah’s father laughs. “Yes. Perfect for Sarah. She never met a challenge she didn’t like.”

At a distance, Lucas thinks he spots her. The person - definitely a woman - is wearing the same fuschia-coloured tank top that Sarah had been. As the blur nears, he can see a bit more clearly, and - yes. “It’s Sarah!” he says loudly, pointing. “Coming right up. Come on Sarah!” he hollers.

The rest of them begin cheering as well as she approaches down the last half-mile. She looks tired, Lucas observes, but there’s a look of determination on her face that is unmistakable. She won’t be defeated, his Sarah - not by a marathon and not by herself.

She spots them as she nears the finish line, all yelling and cheering for her, and she waves excitedly. The group of them hurries over to meet her, and when they get close, Sarah’s father gives Lucas a little push on his back.

“Go on, Lucas. She’ll be excited to see you,” he says.

Sarah’s a few feet away now, and when she crosses the finish line she lifts her arms in victory. Marcia and Sarah’s mother are both taking pictures, still yelling excitedly; behind them, Jordan, Hamil, and Lemuel are clapping. Lucas steps out into the road, waving at her, and when she gets close enough Sarah essentially collapses into his arms.

He holds her up easily, his arms solid around her waist and shoulders, and squeezes tightly. “You did so amazing, Sarah,” he says to her. “I’m so proud of you, you did it!”

She’s still panting, her chest heaving to catch her breath from the last burst of energy she’d put through to cross the line. Lucas can feel her nodding against him. “What was the time?” she asks breathlessly.

“4:18-something,” Marcia pipes in. “They’ll have the official times if we go check.”

Sarah smiles at her and lets go of Lucas to give Marcia a hug. “Sorry, I’m so sweaty and vile,” she apologizes as she makes her way down the line.

Sarah’s father produces a modest bouquet of flowers, which he hands to her when she reaches him. “Congrats, sweetheart. You set your mind to it and you did it.”

“Oh Dad, you shouldn’t have.” Sarah gives him a quick hug. “I need - can we migrate to the food tent? I need a banana or something.” She turns, scanning the group of them, and exhales when her eyes fall on Lucas. “I still can’t believe you guys are here. It means so much, it really helped. When I was running, all I could think of was that you were all here, and that if I just kept going, I’d get to see you all.”

“We wouldn’t have missed it for the world, Sarah,” Jordan says. “Though I have to say, now that I’ve been here, I don’t know if a marathon is in my future.”

“Oh no, Jordan, you have to,” Sarah says, falling in line beside her as they all walk over to where several baskets of fruit and sandwiches and water are set up for the runners. They talk shop for a little while - Jordan, apparently, has been looking into doing something like this as well - and Sarah gives them all a bit of a play-by-play in between bites of banana and watermelon.

Eventually, Sarah looks over at her parents. “I should go take a shower and pack up my stuff before you have to check out of the hotel, huh?”

Her father is looking at his watch. “I hate to break up the party, but - yes, it’s going to be getting time for us to go.”

Sarah looks over at the group of them. “Where are you guys staying?”

“We’re camping at the outskirts, fifteen minutes away,” Hamil answers.

“And so are you - if you want,” Marcia adds. “Lucas let me into your room and I packed you a little bag, if you want to stay with us. We’re here until Wednesday morning. We’ve got everything else - food, an extra sleeping bag, the works.”

“No pressure though, Sarah,” Lucas interrupts, meeting her eyes to let her know that really, it’s fine if she doesn’t want to. “It’ll be a lot of fun, but if you want to just head back to the city and relax, that’s also-”

“No,” she breathes, shaking her head. “No, I’ll stay.”