Colette ran in the Ogden Half-Marathon in May, and she decided that she was going to run another one. In the process of committing to it, she drug me into it also. Well if I was going, then I wanted to take as many people as I could. We talked to Colette's sisters (veteran runners) and David and James and Sarah about it (rookies like myself). They initially all said yes. Well David started his training, and you all know how that ended up - if you forgot
CLICK HERE to see what happened. Well James was busy and couldn't do it, but Sarah decided that she would join the ranks of the runners circle and would run the Huntsville Half-Marathon with us. This decision was made back in May. So ever since then we (Colette, Sarah and I) have been training. As part of our training we ran a 5k. Sarah ran with Jen in a SLC area 5k. Colette and I ran in a local church-sponsored 5k. We also did crazy things like run 9.5 miles when we were on vacation up at the Wright Cabin in July. Well after the countless hours and miles September 8th finally came.
It was a clear cool morning. It was cold enough that you needed a jacket but not too cold that you couldn't feel your extremities. We arrived around 7:30 with race time at 8:00. We stood in lines for the bathroom and checked in, pinned on our numbers and got ready for the moment that we had been training for to begin.
We lingered a bit in the back of the crowd, anticipating that we wouldn't be in the winner's circle, and not wanting to get trampled when the whistle blew. So at about 8:07 we started and off we went. We did about a mile loop around the Huntsville Park area before we hit the main road and headed North towards what would be the only view of the lake for the entire run.
Meanwhile at about 8:15 the 5k whistle blew and Daryl and Sybil were off and running. I am not sure what happened, but there is some speculation that Sybil may have missed a turn, so she did a lap around the lake before she made it to the finish line, and turns out she did quite well.
Half-Marathon Map5k MapWell back to the Half-ers. We ran in what could be described as a crude figure-8 pattern. So we did a loop then ran back past the park area and then did another loop before making it to the end. So David and Neil, along with Carl were there at the half way point to snap some progress pictures of us.
Oh, I have failed to mention, the other gal in the picture just behind Sarah is Kelli. She has been Sarah's running partner. Turns out she works at
ADP, same as me.
I did something that is probably considered bad in the running/racing world, I took my camera and stopped to smell the roses...I mean, take pictures. It took mere seconds for each click and that was something that I was willing to sacrifice for a little fun and some fond memories.
Each of these numbers is the mile markers. And yes 10 means that we had ran 10 miles at that point. 10 miles, wow when you say it like that....
Now the mile 13 mile marker is only 0.1 miles away from the finish line since a Half-Marathon is 13.1 miles, so you can see the finish line just beyond the mile marker.
For those of you who may be wondering, crossing the finish line is a exhilarating, euphoric, and ecstatic feeling. As soon as you can see that finish line off in the distance, the adrenaline kicks in and the after-burners turn on. From that point we could see and hear the masses all gathered to cheer us on in our final moment, our moment of victory!
RACE RESULTSThe the days following the race, Mike was quoted:
"I am happy to say that I came I ran and I have gone home. I am happy that I ran. It was a lot of work getting to that point. I am definitely better conditioned now than any other time in my life to run long distances. (Not necessarily better shape, just better conditioned....) It was very gratifying to have accomplished something like that. I ran with Colette the entire 13.1 miles, and we crossed the finish line holding hands! I took my camera along for the ride and took some pictures along the way, which was kind of fun. I wasn't there to win a medal, I was there to prove to myself that I am able to do something that most people are not willing to attempt. It was a very fun and spirited experience. As a first timer - I felt good about my time, we came in just shy of 3 hours. I have mixed feeling about doing something of that magnitude again, but I guess time will tell. I still have stiff legs but have otherwise recovered from the strain of the run."
Sarah also added:
"I survived as well. It was a good experience. I worked hard to accomplish a goal and feel good. I ran with my friend [Kelli and] we decided to stay together. My only goal was to finish and I feel good about that. There are some pretty neat pictures too! "
