I think it's been well documented about that first marathon I ran in 2001. I had taught a YW class on long-term goal setting, the lesson referenced preparing for a marathon, I researched what it would take to actually prepare for a marathon and stumbled across the St. George Marathon website. I thought that at some point in the future, after I lost weight and started running again, I would sign up for it...maybe the next year. Then, a lady around my age in my ward died unexpectedly and rather suddenly, and I thought why wait? I clicked on "submit" on the registration form, knowing it was a lottery to get in, and darn the luck, I got in. So I bought some New Balance shoes and started running around the high school track.
After I finished that first marathon, and realized that I didn't die and also that I had a little bit of energy left at the end - I could have gone faster - I wanted to try it again. 2002, Thomas ran too. 2003, Adam ran too, and I had my best time ever: beating 5 hours barely, because I thought Adam was ahead of me and I was trying to catch up to him. And also the Seminary teacher's wife Carda found me, and she was just so darn encouraging.
2004, the year of the black shirts, Dieter Uchtdorf getting sustained as an apostle, and Thomas pointing at the Hungarian Book of Mormon at Cove Fort - Kerry, Adam and I all ran. And then a few days later, my dad died. I still had blisters on my feet at his funeral. When I went to the funeral home for the first time, I wore my marathon shirt. In May, the county was dedicating the Veteran's Plaza and renaming it for my dad, which was the same weekend as the Coeur d'Alene Marathon, so I decided to run that in his honor. That became my first spring marathon, my 5th marathon, and the only time I've run on a Sunday. It was really quite fun to run around my old hometown and lake, though it seemed further than St. George because I could well remember driving my car to all of those spots. I couldn't have imagined running from NIC to the High School, then back to the East side of Cd'A lake, then back to the college. It was fun to have my sisters and nieces and nephews and people I knew along the course. I didn't end up running St. George that year because it was the day after BHS homecoming, and Marisa was nominated for queen. I wanted to stick around just in case, plus I'd already done my marathon that year. Kerry and I went to Hawaii for our 25th anniversary that summer. My toenail finally fell off in the ocean. Memories.
2006, I thought, why not run a little closer to home? I ran the Top of Utah marathon in Logan for my 6th marathon. They still have me down as a DNF for that one, despite a lot of witnesses that I did finish, the clock just got unplugged for a minute there. Oh well, I know I finished, I got my medal, and people with times after me got posted, so - yeah. Corinna Motola was a student at Utah State, she ran the last mile or so with me, along with various Park kids.
Having now run 6 marathons for my 6 children, I felt like I was pretty much done. That wasn't the original intent, but 6 seemed like a good number. I did not really run a race again, until Marisa was dating Doug, and he was going to run St. George, and she wondered if I wanted to as well. I think I signed up for that one because Marisa wanted me to, and we got a condo that was really a house with an infinity pool, so we could all stay down there and have a fun weekend. Maybe that's why they got married, I'm not sure, but it was fun even though it took me 7 hours to finish because my miniscus had long been torn, and that was really a long 26.2. Emily ran with me the last couple of miles, and Adam brought me a cold Dasani when I was sitting on someone's lawn, because the aid stations close after 6 hours. There was a teenage boy running in with his tired mother too, and Emily and I just had a goal to beat them. We did. I wasn't last despite taking 7 whole hours. I've never been last. Emily really liked running those last miles with me, and the finish line is such an exciting place, she had mentioned several times that she wanted to run a marathon too. She was so skinny and tiny, and I kept telling her that she had to be a little older to run a marathon, like at least 16, and that I would run a marathon with her whenever she was ready. She said something like, I would be too old or not running anymore when she finally got old enough and I assured her that would never be the case.
I got my knee scoped in June of 2010. It took until the summer of 2011 before I felt like running again, but mostly I biked. Janna and Kerri decided to do the Bloomsday Race in Spokane that year, and I couldn't really let them do their first race without me, so Emily and I ran, along with Derek and all 3 of Kerri's daughters. It was something like 7 miles. Emily didn't train at all, but she beat uber fit Sarah, and wasn't far behind long legged Derek. She had been doing cross country in Middle School.
Then they made a race, Tommy Vaughn's, right here in river city, starting at the greenbelt that I had trained around for lo those many marathons, like 2 blocks from my front door. I couldn't stand it, I had to run in it. I knew I didn't want to run the full marathon, because (as I learned in Cd'A) if there arent thousands of runners, it's a long, lonely day, and everyone is kind of waiting for you at the end, and there is a really good chance of being dead last. So I decided to do the half marathon. That is a really fun distance, far enough to feel meaningful, and short enough to not die. I decided I would probably always run half marathons forever more.* And my knee was all rehabilitated. That was 2012. They measured wrong, and it was almost 14 miles long, and I tried to tell them ahead of time, but they didn't believe me. Knowing I was going to be running 13.9 miles, I was prepared, and did not cuss like some of the other people who were trying to PR. I went right home and had Emily's birthday party in the backyard. Half-marathons close to home are lovely things. *That is the only half marathon I have ever run.
As graduation neared in the spring of 2014, Emily said she wanted to run the St. George Marathon with me this year. This would be our chance, because next year by October she hoped to be on a mission, then she would probably get married, or who knows, and so this was the year. I tried to tell her, it's a lot of running, all summer long, getting up early, spending every Saturday running long distances. She reminded me of my promise. After much contemplation, and remembering my promise to tiny little girl Emily who helped me run the last miles of every St. George Marathon I ever ran, we signed up and, fortunably, we got in.
So this race, my 8th marathon (YES - FULL MARATHON 26.2) is run not because I have anything to prove, but because I like to keep my promises. If your 18 year old daughter asked you to run a marathon with you, you would too. I am much older now than that first, one, and a little heavier, and 2 minutes a mile slower. I think I'm faster than torn miniscus year though, and I only wish I was fast enough to run with Emily instead of sending her ahead. That is my plan, to let her go like in all of the 5K's we have done this summer, and Bloomsday. Run wild and free, and I will see you at the finish line, maybe after you've had lunch and a shower and changed clothes. The fun has been in running together all summer, long runs where we got rummy and cranky and told jokes and talked ourselves out of quitting early. We always finished what we set out to do - 8 laps around Jensen's Grove, or 16 miles of shuttle-run craziness.
I am getting mellower, I did not even correct the school lady who asked me if I was ready for my "half-marathon". St. George does not have a half marathon this weekend. There is only one distance. We run hard. Every other time I ran, I was somewhere in the 40-49 age groups. I'm kind of counting on their being fewer nifty fifty-somethings than sporty forty ladies. If nothing else I will outlast them.
They always try to scare me by saying in the official race literature "you have to make it to mile 23 by 1 pm or you can't finish" or words to that effect. Me and mile 23 are good friends by now, even if it's been 5 years. I'm not too fond of miles 24 and 25, though 26 is always a good time. I wish I lots of photos of marathons over the years to pepper this post with. Maybe I will add them later.
