This Marine spouse's family threw her a private half marathon when hers was canceled due to COVID-19
Kelly Mooney after her half marathon with her husband, Paul, and their three children. (Jim Koehr)
Marine spouse Kelly Mooney has made it tradition to run a half marathon after each of her pregnancies.
So when she was recovered from baby No. 3, she started training for half marathon No. 3, which was scheduled for March in Washington, D.C.
But when the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. right as the race was scheduled to take place, it canceled the Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon she had been training so hard for.
Mooney’s family didn’t let her stay disappointed for long though: They decided to throw her a private half marathon so the military spouse could still run her race.
Led by her father, who has raced in the past, the family created a 13.1-mile course through their hometown of Warrenton, Virginia — complete with a finish line and a medal waiting for her at the end of the race, which finished at her doorstep.
Her younger brother and training buddy, Shane Koehr, ran the race with her, with some other of her 11 siblings popping in for a few miles along the way. The rest of her family, along with her children, followed in cars, motorcycles and bicycles to cheer her on.
“In some ways it was better than doing the actual race,” Mooney told The Spouse Angle prior to April’s episode 25, based on John Krasinski’s viral YouTube show, “Some Good News.”
“I felt so loved and so supported by my family,” Mooney said.
Some good news, indeed.
Watch the full episode of “Some Good News: Military Edition” here.