Today marked the end of the run, the completion of 15,200 miles, and the return to the start. Today we did it. We made it all the way around the world, in one piece, in 95 days, non-stop, 24 hours a day, with one baton, and only 21 runners. WOW! The magnitude of this still hasn’t sunk in, and probably won’t…for a long time.

The morning started differently than the past ones. All the runners, minus the team running, gathered for a breakfast briefing of the days events. Afterwards it was off to the start of the final leg of the run. Standing outside the hotel, gathered and waiting to walk to the UN, it was a complete déjà vu of the first morning. Amazing! We walked over, huddled, thanked god, and started letting the finality sink in. Emmanuel came running in a little while later, exuberant and cheerful as always, stopping short of kissing the ground as he reached the sidewalk outside the UN…where it had all began 94 days ago! Then together we listened as the last message was read, and the baton was passed for the last time, between Mary and Emmanuel. Mary took off with the baton, and the rest of us in tow. We covered the final 4 miles from the UN to the Seaport, altogether as one team, very very slowly (we had an hour and half) and full of excitement. The run went right down the East Side, past East River Park, the track I trained at for four years of college, and along a lot of familiar sights. It was strange for me to be able to now associate two teams with one spot. As we neared the Seaport, we stopped and gathered once more. Creating the team formation that we would run in as, and then…we finished…running through the balloon arch, through a cheering crowd, and onto the stage.

At 12pm…we stopped running, stood altogether, all 21 of us, on stage…with the baton. For the first time, in 95 days, no one was running, the baton was not moving, and we had completed our mission. We had circumnavigated the globe, running through 16 countries, and had made it back to the start…going only in one direction…always East. Amazing! A ceremony followed, with Jin Zidell, founder of the Blue Planet Run, and Patty Temple Rocks of DOW making speeches, each of us runners were recognized and received awards, laurels, and thanks, Mary and Richard gave amazing and eloquent speeches on the behalf of us, pictures were taken, and then we were free to mingle and soak in the atmosphere. Several people surprised me by showing up to give support, including my dad, my friend Shannon, and the staff at the office I worked in through college. It was a great feeling to see all the familiar faces, and to hear how they had been following along the entire time. Before we could get too emotional, distracted, or free…we were whisked off again…this time to Battery Park City for a photo shoot for Runner’s World magazine. We were photographed for the December issue, having been given the honor of “Heroes of Running”, an amazing honor!

As quick as we could, we finished the shoot, piled in vans, and headed up to the hotel to get ready for the nights festivities. An hour was all we had to transform from the runners that we had been the past 3 months and into beautiful people…but everyone did amazing, and ended up looking absolutely fabulous. It was so cool to see people dressed differently, some people were even hard to recognize. The festivities started small at a reception at the Maritime Hotel, where each of us were once more recognized and awarded with gifts and plaques. One by one we came up to give thanks and say a little something. It was nice to hear the different stories and memories people had, and definitely started to drive home the finality of the situation. After we had all been recognized, the celebration moved next door for the party portion. My awesome NYU friends, Shannon, CiCi, and Sarah came to join me, and I had a great time sharing the night and excitement of BPR’s finish with them. More videos, thanks, awards were given…lots of drinks were drank, and a ton of dancing was done. The only odd part of the night was when my shoes got stolen…yeah that’s right, stolen! Weird I know, but apparently, uncomfortable silver stilettos are in high demand. Having taken them off to go dance, when I returned…they were no where to be found, and despite the entire staff at the bar actively searching with flashlights, they remained stolen. The good news was that they were incredibly uncomfortable, relatively cheap, and less that I have to pack and bring back. So, hopefully whoever took them will enjoy them more than I did. As the party began to end the night was just beginning, and we all transitioned over to a bar next door, me barefoot and all, to continue the celebrating.

Despite having no shoes and getting some glass in my foot, it overall was a great night, made better by the company of so many awesome people. No tears, no sadness, just happiness. A great ending to a great trip, and a once in a lifetime experience! Thank you BPR, thank you runners, thank you staff, thank you to everyone for the support, the friendship, the camaraderie, and for making this something I will never be able to forget.