Patrick Dempsey: The Maine Event
We arrived at the event site early; We got lost at pretty much every opportunity during our weekend, so we wanted to allow plenty of time; It was 6 AM, and the breakfast tent wasn't even up yet; since we'd picked up our registration packets Friday evening, we didn't have to be anywhere until staging, and my aunts decided to return to the car to sleep until 7:30 or so. I didn't sleep, just waited impatiently for them to wake up.
I went in with the expectation of not seeing Patrick Dempsey. We had received our participant packet email about a week earlier, which had the final schedule of events, including a 3PM closing ceremony hosted by PD. I was so upset, because our return flights had been scheduled for right around the same time. Even now, I’m a teensy bit disappointed, because from what I’ve garnered, it seems that there were fairly good meeting/greeting opportunities after this closing ceremony. However, we still had uncommonly good luck for the portion of the day we were there.
(I cheated and took this picture after we'd actually finished the race.)
When we left the car, we made our way to the breakfast tent to inhale a muffin and/or banana. Our group, the 5K Walk/Run(/Stagger in my case), was the last to leave, so while the cyclists were already lined up in staging, the 5K participants were just hanging aboutin the lot. An announcer was on the stage making…announcements…and then we heard him introduce “the man responsible for today”…”who wanted to give back to his hometown community”…and then there was Patrick, addressing the crowd.
I don’t remember much of what he said. I was kind of frozen to where I stood-my aunts nearly had to force me to move closer. He did mention that (at that moment) fundraising for the event had raised nearly a million dollars, which he thought was “pretty good for the first year.” I remember him commenting on the weather (cool, overcast). At that point, I was maybe twenty feet away from him, right by the stage. I was so mad at my aunts - I had wanted to bring my camera from the car (just in case), and leave it at the bag check when we went on the run, but they dissuaded me from doing so, and then sure enough, there was Patrick, as close as we (then) thought we’d ever get.
(This shot was actually taken later, but still...the Curls....sigh....)
He finished speaking and stepped back, then sat down directly in front of me to TAKE OFF HIS PANTS. (They were covering a pair of shorts, but not the skin-tight ones that he bikes in…I don’t know the technical terms for the cycling garb.) I had a full view of very skinny, very pale legs as he pulled on the tight-like things that cyclists wear. Also, so much love for the Curls peeping out from underneath the ball-cap turned backward. Awesome. After he got his shoes back on, he got up and walked in our direction. For a very brief second, there was eye contact; he waved to everyone, did the “Hi everyone, thanks for coming” thing…and then:
There was a woman right at the edge of the stage who is evidently currently battling cancer. Her support team pushed her wheelchair on the 5K route, and my aunt (who was right next to her) heard her say that she’s “not quite a survivor yet.” She has lost her hair, and had painted a cancer ribbon (I don’t remember what color) on top of her head, and written “cancer stinks” on one side of her head. Patrick went to her, took her head between his hands, and kissed her head. I’m pretty sure that woman nearly passed out. (This was my “Patrick Dempsey is More Awesome Than I Ever Imagined Moment #1.
Shortly thereafter, Patrick was escorted off the other side of the stage and went to get ready to ride. His group was released first - he rode 50 miles - and then they released the 100 mile, 50 mile, 25 mile, and 10 mile groups, and then finally the 5K group. I had awful, awful, awful shin splints, so my aunt is mostly truthful when she says that I whined the whole way. I did push through some of the pain about halfway through, and though I didn’t run as much as I wanted to, I made it through, and I finished at a run. The clock time was 54:15, but that was from the initial start (when Patrick left), so we estimate (based on the intervals between groups starting) that our actual time was around 45:00. Not awesome, but considering the massive hills that comprised the first mile of the run, I’ll take it.
They gave us snacks after the run, Aunt #1 and I went to the car to change/get my camera, and then they started serving lobster at 11. By the time Aunt #2 and I made it through the line (Aunt #1 had saved our seats), it was about 12:30, and Aunt #1 had just heard an announcement a little earlier that Patrick and his group were about ten miles out. Of course, everyone was lining the railings of the course to get pictures when Patrick arrived, so I listened, and when the announcer said that Patrick and his group were coming up in the next few minutes, I stood on my chair, set the camera to video, pointed, and hoped for the best-and it worked!! It’s not fantastic, but I do have a very, very short video of Patrick as he cruises by, just about 20 feet from the finish line. I will post the video eventually, but I also took some still shots from it, which I'll post now. Patrick is the closest cyclist to the camera, in the blue/white/green jersey (or whatever you call them), wearing the sunglasses.
(Patrick is in the middle of the screen)
(I choose to believe that he's smiling personally at me)
(Far left...eyes on the finish line, no more waving at the crowd...)
I was more concerned with watching Patrick with my own eyes than following him with the video camera, so unfortunately I don't actually have a shot of him at the actual finish. I did see him cross it, just not on camera! Of course, he was immediately swarmed by press, cameras, and people, and after a minute or two, was escorted away by security, who closed a gate behind them.
We had nothing but time to kill; we’d already perused the different booths, and we had a little time before we needed to leave to get Aunt #1 back to Portland for her flight. I suggested that we go stake out the gate where Patrick had gone, figuring that eventually, he’d come out that way and we could get a couple of pictures through the fence or something. There were only about twenty people by the gate, but imagine our surprise when just as we walked up, the gate opened and Patrick and his security people walked out. People were predictably excited, swarming him, trying to get pictures, autographs, whatever. I really think Patrick would have accommodated each request, but his security guy kept one arm around Patrick’s waist to keep him moving through the crowd.
(Blurry, sorry...things moved crazy-fast)
At the last second, they turned to the right and came straight at me. I was so stunned that Patrick Dempsey was RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME that I barely moved out of the way, just a microsecond before Patrick and his security people plowed me down. Aunt #2 and I were taking pictures-unbeknown to us at the time, Aunt #1 (who is not even a fan, and never watches Grey’s) had been star-struck and caught up in the excitement, and not only had touched him (patted his arm and oh-so-eloquently stated “Good job!”), but was bouncing up and down behind him as he posed for pictures with small children, so she showed up in the background of several of our pictures, wearing this huge psychotic grin and looking like a total creepy stalker (he had no clue she was back there, as he was posing with small children.)
(This one turned out a little blurry...but see that woman on the right in the gray coat? That's my stalker-crazy aunt. I like to caption PD's expression here as "Who is this psycho behind me?")
His security was very good at moving him along, so before I knew it, we were behind him (which gave us a lovely view…my aunt has pictures, she’s emailing them to me.) They guided him across the street to a waiting car, and he got in the passenger side. All of a sudden, he opened the car and got out to greet a woman standing on the sidewalk, waving at him. I could hear him from across the street, “How have you been? It’s been forever!” etc. He gave her a hug and kiss and talked to her for a minute or two, and then got back in the car and drove off.
Aunts #1 and #2 and I were comparing pictures just after his departure, when the woman he’d gotten out of the car to see came up and asked if we happened to have gotten a picture of her with him. I checked my camera, and had one of him getting out of the car with a huge smile when he recognized her. (I got her email address and I’m supposed to send it to her - I looked for her on Facebook, just on a whim, and it looks like she saw him again later in the day, because she has a really great picture of the two of them as her profile picture. I really hope that doesn’t make me a creepy stalker - I was just checking to see if I had her name right before I emailed her…)
Anyway…this is Patrick Dempsey is More Amazing than I Ever Imagined Moment #2, and the one I think no one outside of my little group and this woman (and maybe one or two other people with cameras that she asked) know about. It turns out, this woman was a schoolmate of Patrick’s back in the day -- I thought she said high school, my aunt heard elementary school, but regardless, it had been years and years since she last saw him - and he had recognized her from the car when she waved, and got out to see her. (She was really sweet and funny, offered to trade “his fresh saliva” if I’d email her the picture.) The really, really awesome part? The woman had her little girl (maybe 4-5 years old) with her, and Patrick took his sunglasses that he’d just worn on the ride and gave them to the little girl. She was so proud wearing them, and absolutely adorable. I have a picture of her wearing them, but I think it’s best that I don’t post a picture of a stranger’s child with the parent’s consent. Regardless though, I was just blown away by how he got out of the car (as she said) “just to see her” and then to give the sunglasses to her daughter on top of it? How awesome. And just look at the expression on his face when he saw her…he really did recognize her, and seems really, genuinely happy to see her:
So in short: awesome weekend. Awesome experience. Can't wait to go back next year...I figure this gives me a year to figure out what the hell I'd actually say to Patrick Dempsey if/when I get the chance to officially meet him. My crush on him grew quite a bit this weekend...seriously...until you've seen those eyes in person...but mostly, my respect for him as a person? It was already high, but we're talking increase by leaps and bounds. Still to come: my aunt has some gorgeous shots (I was a bit distracted by staring at him to do much with my own camera), including one of a full-on McDreamy-quality smile, and I'll post those as soon as she sends them to me, but for now, I leave you with my personal favorite photo of the weekend:
The smile! The eye crinkles! The Curls!
Sigh. The happy, happy L who got to be right next to this yesterday.
It still hasn't completely sunk in yet...
But I'm so ready for next year!