St George Marathon

WE DID IT!  26.2 miles.  On foot.  Running.  Craziness!  This is something I have always wanted to do, but wasn’t really sure if I was capable of.  Seth, on the other hand, is plenty capable, but has never had ANY desire to run.  So, we make an unlikely running team :)  BUT, ALAS, WE DID IT!!!!!!

 

This all started back in April, when my brother Marty asked if Seth and I would be willing to sign up for the St. George Marathon with him & his wife, Lisa.  They had run the year before and were entering just so they could get a “strike”.  (The St. George Marathon is pretty hard to get in to.  If you don’t get chosen by their lottery, they give you a strike.  3 strikes gets you a guaranteed entry the year you choose, so they are good to accumulate).  I actually already have a strike, so I thought getting my second was definitely a good idea.  I was SHOCKED when Marty called me and told me we had been selected by the lottery as a group.  I didn’t really want to do it!  This year ESPECIALLY!  I was really nervous about training over the summer because um, hel-lo!, we were mo-ving!  The whole move took a ton of time and energy- what with packing up our entire house, finding a place to live, and all.  Also, we had a pretty full summer schedule with family functions, vacations, etc.

OH Dear…….

So, we reluctantly began training in June, shortly after finishing the Ogden 1/2 marathon.  I had a few friends from Mountain Green that had ran the 1/2 with me, so I asked if anyone was interested in continuing on with the training?  Liz Polad had just dropped out of crossfit for the summer and was looking for some good exercise so she volunteered to come along. I don’t thing either of us ever thought she would go all the way, but somehow, when it was time for that 20 miler training run, Liz was still on board.   Also, around this time it became apparent  that I couldn’t keep up with Seth or Marty & Lisa and I was going to need someone to run the Marathon with, or I would end up slowing down the other group.  This didn’t offend me in the least- I know my own limits and I am not a super speedy runner :)  We realized that Liz was fully capable and fully trained to run the St. George Marathon, but there was one problem- she didn’t have an entry.

BTW- this race is not like the Ogden Marathon.  You can’t just buy a spot off of someone else on the internet.  There is seriously no way in if you didn’t draw a lottery spot.  But if you know Liz, you know she is perserverent, and she really wanted to do this! With the help of a neighbor who is a fellow runner and learned of her plight (and who apparently has friends in high places….), Liz secured a spot at the ninth hour.

And thank goodness she did.  I would not have made it through this race without her.  We had so much fun together!!  It was an amazing experience and I will cherish it always.  Don’t get me wrong- it was also hell on wheels, but Liz kept me going the whole time.  That girl has serious endorphins.  She was riding a high for, well, pretty much the whole weekend. 

OH, and lucky for me, she also made sure to document the entire weekend, so I have a plethora of pictures to share with you.

The night before the race.  We had just arrived home from the expo. (where we picked up our packets & enjoyed an all-you can eat pasta buffet!)

Boarding the pre-race buses at the crack of dawn.

And riding the 45 minute bus ride to the top of the canyon.  (I told you she took pictures of everything :)

Standing in line for the porta-potties.  (still pre-race, as I’m sure you can tell by the darkness…..)

Our shoes.  We all run in hoka’s, which are absurdly expensive, but worth every penny if you are planning to run distances.  I am certain that these shoes saved my back as well as my feet!

And now for race time.  We’re off! (Do you love the “proof” photos I hijacked off the marathon website???)

Marty, Lisa & Seth ditched us within the first 2 minutes, which was fine.  Like I said, they have a much faster pace and that’s ok.  Liz and I spent the entire first 3 hours chatting with everyone we saw.  We met some pretty great people.  There was an entire family of siblings running with their mother who has MS and was in a wheelchair.  They were taking turns pushing her.  There was a young mom who was running for her 6 year old daughter who had Leukemia.  There was a great guy who I (LIKE AN IDIOT!) asked if he could open one of my goos for me, and then noticed that his hand was crippled.  AGGGGHHH!!!!  But he just smiled and chatted with us for a few more miles. 

Liz and I also started a fabulous “outfit” contest.  (Are you surprised?)  We looked for our favorites, and the serious no-no’s (you know who you are, geometric hot pants!)  We also looked for cute bums (male and female), great hair-do’s, nice legs- you name it.  We were seriously having a ball!

My knee started hurting pretty badly about 10 miles in, and I had to stop at the aid stations a few times to get it re-wrapped and some icy-hot rubbed on there- but other than that, we were making good time!  At one aid station, we lost each other in the bathroom line and I was so panicked.  I could not run alone!

At this point, we hadn’t even turned on our music, we were just enjoying each other’s company, but about mile 17, we were getting tired and decided we needed a pick me up.  In went the headphones. 

I should stop here and mention that it was an unusually warm day for St. George in October, much to my brother’s chagrin. He was positive that the reason for their slow time the year before was due to the heat, and that this year they would be able to do better.  The problem was, it was ridiculously hot, again. We had been warned to drink and eat a lot more than we thought we should.  I kept pouring water over my head to cool off, and at one point, my earphones completely died.  I was crying to Liz about losing my music when this seriously hot guy rode up on a mountain bike and offered me his headphones.  It was like the movies!  Such chivalry!  I’ll likely never get a chance to thank hot guy, but he really saved me.

So, from there it was just the last 6 torturous miles.  They were really awful.  I had my music cranked, but it was getting so hot and I was running out of juice.  I kept thinking we could stop and walk for awhile, but then Liz would grab my arm and make me keep going.  She was amazing! At this point we had been running for over 4 hours.  Isn’t that absurd- I never thought I would torture myself in such a way for fun.

We crossed the finish line in 4 hours and 49 minutes.  The last 2 miles were the most grueling of my life- but we ran them hard.  I crossed the finish line and dropped to the ground.  My legs literally gave out and I couldn’t stand up if I wanted to.  Seth, Marty and Lisa were there waiting for us.  Seth had finished in 4 hours and 6 minutes.  He was a little bummed because he was shooting for something with a 3 in front of it- but I thought he did amazing.  He was shocked at how hard it was- and this was coming from a guy who has ridden LOTOJA twice, a bike ride that has you on your bike for 10 hours!  I have to give serious props to professional marathon runners- that is a crazy sport!

Post race with our medals and our bags of ice!  I made the mistake of taking off my shoes before walking to the car and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get them back on.  My feet were covered in blisters and my toenails were a mess.  Several have since turned black and are preparing to fall off.  (Doesn’t that make you want to run a marathon?)

Which brings me to this picture.  Liz saw this poster and wanted a picture with it because it is so true!  Who needs toenails when you can run a marathon instead, right?

Then she noticed that the poster was reversible and made Seth pose with the reverse side……

You can see that he was all too pleased to oblige her. :)

 

And with that, we headed back to the car to begin what was to be the sorest three days of my life.  WOW.

I must thank Liz, my trusty running partner.  You inspire me, girl.  Also, my dear husband.  We had to do a lot of our training alone here in Price and I was struggling without my girls to run with.  He always ran at my pace without complaint, even when I wanted to kill him (I’m not always friendly when runs aren’t going well for me……)  To Marty and Lisa, who dragged us into this mess- thank you for inspiring us.  You are true runners.

And last, to all who helped us along the way.  To my friends for all the great runs, to Grandma Lesli for babysitting while we went for those LONG early morning Saturday runs, and to my kids, for putting up with all the time daddy and I had to spend doing our training.  We owe you some special family time!

In Closing- sorry this post is so dang long.  But I really wanted to document this experience because it meant a lot to me.  I am so proud of all of us for this accomplishment, and although I swore never to do it again, I do hope someday to try to beat that time.  I think I can do better.

Just not someday soon. :)