St. George Marathon

Quite some time ago my good friend Chris Jolley told me about the Utah Runner's Series. You sign up and then commit to run at least two runs in Utah over the course of a year, and if you complete the runs you are automatically entered into the St. George Marathon. Chris and I signed up and completed the Ivan's 10K and the Hurricane Half Marathon earlier this year.

Yesterday was the St. George Marathon. We left Friday at 4:00 p.m. and drove to Utah. Once we got there I checked in and our family enjoyed a spaghetti dinner sponsored by a local restaurant for the runners. We checked into our hotel and I asked for a wake-up call for 3:15 a.m (which is 2:15 a.m. Vegas time). We then all tucked in at 8:30 p.m. Utah time. My daughters fell asleep pretty well, but Tiff wanted to stay up and watch the BYU football game.

The wake up call came and I got dressed and met Chris and his friend Jason to drive to the race. The race had buses shuttle the runners to the starting line. The race starts near Pine Valley and the runners run from there into St. George. At the starting line, which I got to at at 4:30 a.m., there was a DJ playing tunes (Eye of the Tiger and such) to get the runners amped up. There was water, coffee, hot chocolate, and bon fires to keep the runners comfortable in the 39 degree weather before the sun came up.

Once the gun fired Chris and I stayed together for about 7 miles. When we started the climb up the hill after Veyo Chris pulled away from me. I spent the next few miles trying to catch him but I could not see him. As I hit the climb just past "The Ledges" (around mile 15) Chris caught me. Turned out he stopped off the side of the road for a pit stop and I went passed him without knowing. We ran together for a little bit but as the hill continued Chris passed me again.

After "The Ledges" it was mostly downhill into St. George. I hit the city limits with about 4-5 miles left. It was nice because the streets were lined on both sides with spectators cheering everyone on. Lots of kids wanting high 5's, lots of signs cheering the runners on, and everyone yelling words of congratulations and encouragement.

The last three miles were extremely difficult, but I was able to gut it out and finish in 4:13:58 officially. After the run there was a misting shower for those who just finished, then I got my finisher's medal, which is made of what looks like shellacked sandstone.

All in all it was a great experience. Despite the pain in my legs I can't wait to get up tomorrow morning and register for the Runner's Series for 2010.