St. George Marathon!!!

This past weekend, Kaila, Eva and I had the great privilege of going to St. George to run in the Marathon. We left Thursday morning, and traveled to Salt Lake and Provo to visit family, then went back to Ogden to stay with Kevin and Kendra. It sure was good to see everyone. Eva was very happy to meet all the new people!

Eva with Grandma Hill

Friday morning, we got up and went on our way to St. George. We arrived at about 4:00 and Nate and I went to a seminar to hear more about the marathon course. We went back to the hotel to pick up the ladies and went to the expo and to the pasta dinner.

Nate and Heidi and Family with Us

Kaila, Eva and I at Dinner

We went to bed pretty early since a 3:30 AM wake-up was in order! We stumbled out of bed, and Nate and I grabbed a shuttle to the bus loading area. We were taken on a bus to the start line where it was a party! There was about a 1/2 mile of bonfires spaced in a 20' x 20' grid. It was incredible! We met a lot of people and had a good 2+ hour wait... Then came the Start! I had originally had the goal to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I put my expected finish time at 3 hours and 10 minutes. When I received my bib, it was an 'elite' bib! Well... due to the horribly abnormal summer we had, I was not able to train near enough, not to mention I have been sick with a chest infection and sinus infection for the past 4 weeks and haven't run. I decided to try to run with the 3:10 pace group just to see what I could do. (I may get a little competitive during races!) We started out running at 6:45 AM. I stayed with the pace group for 13 miles. It went by really quick and I actually felt good. I was at the halfway point at 1 hour and 40 minutes, which was right were I wanted to be. Well... to put a long story short, that was the last time I felt good! I hit the infamous wall right after mile 13 and had the worst cramps in my life. My heart was about 210 BPM and I felt like I was going to pass out! Needless to say, I may have walked most of the second half! A friend of mine from my running group passed me at about mile 20 and pretty much pulled me along. What a good guy! We got into the city and there were people lining the roads for the last 4 miles or so. People were cheering us on while we were trying not to embarrass ourselves by falling! I finished in 3 hours and 55 minutes, which I am proud of. When I finished, my whole body felt like I just fell off a building! I found Kaila and Eva and promptly laid down never wanting to get up! I took my shoes off to see what damage had been done. I had the biggest blisters I have ever seen on the inside of both heels. I also had a toenail that looked pretty bad. To spare the graphic pictures, I had them bandaged for your protection!

Blister #1

Removed Toenail!

Blister #2!

The doctor at the first aid tent took care of my feet (including removing a toenail...Yes that means I am a real runner!) We hung around the park for awhile and had a great time seeing the different people finish. There were 30 kids under the age of 14 who did the marathon as well as 4 over the age of 80! We went back to the hotel and had a nice relaxing day sleeping and having a picnic in the park.

My Major Award! (Man I Look Bad!)

My Little Racing Buddy!

Cute Little Girl!

We stayed Saturday night, then drove on Sunday to Cedar City to see Kaila's Aunt and Uncle. We had lunch with them, and drove to Salt Lake and saw Vic and Alice and had dinner with them. We drove to Ogden and stayed with Kevin and Kendra again and woke up at 4:30 AM today to drive back to be in time for school. It has been a great weekend, and when I can walk normal again, I will enjoy running for fun now, and not for race training!