St George Marathon 2008 Saturday Oct 4

Saturday October 4 was the 2008 St. George Marathon.
This was my 6th St. George Marathon and 9 marathon
overall. I went down there feeling really great and well
trained. I learned something this weekend about my
determination......I ran the marathon with my running
friends Matt and Margaret. We woke up Saturday morning
at 4:00am and boarded the school bus by 5:00am. The
bus drove us 26.2 miles up the canyon to the starting line.
We have done this several times but were not quite prepared
for what we were about to experience.

We arrived at the starting line at 6:00am and immediately
obtained a garbagebag from the aid station as the rain was
coming down not to mention the wind was blowing. We had
45 minutes until the race started and wanted to stay as dry as
possible. You can imagine 6000 runners all wearing black
garbage bags in all different and "creative" fashions. What a site!

The rain decided to stay with us for the entire 26.2 miles. This
was by far the most difficult marathon I have ever run with rain
and wind. Our shoes were full of water and sloshing around
the entire run. My feet looked like blistered raisins when I
finally took my shoes off. It is bound to happen but you just
don't expect it in St. George. The longest I have ever run in
the pouring rain is 6 miles in the Burlington Marathon.

Everyone's time suffered anywhere from 5-20 minutes because
of the circumstances. It was the slowest race for the St. George
Marathon but you really learned how tough you are!!! It was
my worst PR (personal record) for a marathon but I felt
more accomplished as I crossed the finish line than I ever
have. Stay tuned for some pics of the wet and crazy runners...


Here is my race number and finisher's medal.



Here are the shoes that carried me through the puddles
of water for 26.2...........thanks Adidas.


This is the shirt from the marathon. Pretty awesome design
this year.


Of course the day after the marathon is gorgeous.....typical.
I feel great today. Usually I am hobbling around but I have
very few sore muscles and some minor aches in my joints.
Not bad, I thought for sure as I was fighting to survive the
marathon that my recovery would be miserable. I guess my
training paid off.





Bridger dog enjoying the sunshine in St. George. Why
wasn't it this gorgeous yesterday for the marathon?


Bridger is tired and looking forward to our
4 hour drive home. He loves riding in the
car.....you would think he ran a marathon.