For today’s post, a shameless plug: please go vote for me in the Marathon Tours photo contest. Marathon Tours & Travel provide travel services for runners combining running and travel into an experience you’ll always remember. I traveled with them to Ireland in 2009 and Greece in 2010, and both trips were truly amazing.

Ireland was and still is my all-time favorite travel destination. I loved everything about it from the history to the beautiful views of endless green up in the mountains – and of course, the pubs were pretty great too. I didn’t exactly train well for the Dublin Marathon, so I lined up at the start line really unprepared. I paid for that in pain, but my days in Dubiln and Galway were worth every second of hurt.

Kylemore Abbey – my photo contest entry

Greece was the race experience of a lifetime. I ran the 2,500th anniversary of the original marathon trekking from Marathon to Athens. I never thought there would be a way to top the rush and excitement of crossing the finish line in my first marathon, but this was absolutely a finish experience like no other. It wasn’t the prettiest course, but taking in all the history along the way was unbelievable and incredibly humbling.

The end of the race took us into the original Olympic Stadium with the final 100 yards playing out on the track. Tens of thousands of people filled the stadium cheering. My eyes filled with tears and I pumped my fists in the air with excitement as I ran to the finish.

I traveled to both of these races on my own and never would have done so without the organization and camaraderie that came with participating through Marathon Tours. As I’m sure you can imagine, I would love to do another destination race with them sometime, and winning this contest could help me get there a lot quicker!

Entries have to be pictures from one of their trips and monthly winners for their photo contest receive money toward a trip. The end of the year prizes are what I’m after though, especially that trip to the London Marathon. The rest of the year end prizes aren’t too shabby either!

Thanks for taking the time to vote for me!