Halloween Half Marathon

This weekend we have been off and running!  First the kids had a fun 1 mile kids charity run as part of the LivFit Expo at the Eccles Ice Center.

All three of them participated and ran the whole way! Emily ran with her friend Jadaci and was way ahead of all of us.  I ran with Colby while Russell ran with Logan.

It was a really an enjoyable race with the kids.  Emily loved running with her friend. Colby plugged right along and ran the best he could, sprinting to the finish line at the end.  Logan was so excited at first to be running with all of the big kids.  He took off and ran as fast as his little legs would carry him.  Then he realized it was a lot longer than he imagined.  He was crying as he came across the finish line but he made it the whole way without having to be carried.  I told him that was exactly how I felt when I ran the marathon!  I was crying as I crossed that finish line too.  After getting some Gatorade and a snack, Logan felt much better.  The kids love doing these races.  I hope we can find out about more of them.

The next morning, I participated in my fourth half marathon, the Cache Valley Halloween Half Marathon.  This race was in Richmond and started at the Cherry Peak Ski Resort.  This was probably one of the hardest courses I have ran because there were so many hills or should I say mountains to climb!  

I had high hopes for a PR in this race so I ran with the 1:50 pacer for the first 5-6 miles.  He was really great and was talking to me the whole way telling me little running secrets about how to pace and how to use the course to my advantage.  I was glad I was able to run with them for so long.  Then the hills popped up.  I am not talking about little hills you just power through and be done, these were miles long and very tiring.  I tried to keep up with the pacer but I kept slipping back.  I caught back up on a down hill but then there was another massive hill that seemed to be straight up.  I fell back again and that was the end of the pacer; I was on my own. This big hill ran through a hollow and, because it was a Halloween race, there were zombies and werewolves jumping out at you as you ran passed.  It was pretty cool but I yelled to the werewolf, "Just eat me so I don't have to continue up this hill!"  He just laughed at me!  I had to walk several times on this course as the long hills were killer.  Luckily the course turned slightly downhill toward the finish line so I was able to pick up a little more speed.  

As I ran toward the finish, Colby and Emily joined me and we crossed the finish line together.

I am so blessed to have a family that supports me in this hobby of mine.  I love having them cheer me on in races.  I especially loved having then run with me.  Colby told me after the marathon that he wanted to run with me to the finish line the next time I ran.  So the night before this race I asked him if he still wanted to run with me and he excitedly said yes.  Emily was not being left out and asked to run with me too.  That is something I want to do with all of my races.  

So I did not get a PR but I did come in with a time of 1:55 which I think is pretty good for as much as I walked and the amount of hills on this course!  And even more amazing is I came in first place in my age group of females 26-35!!  I have never placed first in anything before especially a running race!  I was so excited.

Here I am showing off my awesome finishers medal, race shirt, and my first place prize, a wooden stake to scare away the vampires!  Despite the rough course, this turned out to be a really fantastic race.