I actually finished the 2008 Salt Lake City Half Marathon. I confess, I didn’t run the complete 13.1 miles, but I traveled the whole distance under my own power. I ended up walking a lot more then I thought I would, but my goal was to finish and that I did. I finished with a time of two hours and twenty seven minutes (2:27:48). I actually finished a little faster then I had anticipated. I will chalk that up to race day excitement. It really was a surreal experience now that I look back on it. My day started out at 4:00 in the morning. I actually slept really well the night before the race. I woke up, ate my oatmeal and banana and was off to the Gateway Center in downtown Salt Lake City to catch the shuttle to the starting line up at the University of Utah. I was rather excited and not nervous as I waited for the race to begin. First the cyclists took off at 6:00 in the morning, then those that wanted to walk the course took off at 6:30. As 7:00 approached I made one last dash to the port-a-potties only to find a series of lines that looked like what I thought the start of the race would look like. I am sure all 13,000 runners were thinking the same thing that I was thinking and so we all stood there in line waiting to use the restroom. Right before the race, we sang the national anthem and then counted down and off we ran. I turned on my Ipod and started with step one. By the time I was at step 22, I thought to myself how crazy I must be to think I could run a Half Marathon.  As I ticked the first mile off, all I could think of was the next 12 miles. I knew it was as mental as it was physical so I just looked down at my feet and continued putting one foot in front of the other. My strategy at that point was to run from aid station to aid station and walk during the aid stations. I actually ended up walking more that that. It was so great to see all the people lining the streets cheering on the runners. Janet, from my office, was out there with sign just for me. She even ran a block with me along the way. 

I hit my first wall at mile 7. All I wanted to do was walk. I had only run half way… The wind was blowing in my face… My gut was hurting… I was gagging on the GU energy… and then I saw my inspiration….RICK. He wasn’t supposed to be cheering me along the course. He was supposed to meet me at the finish line. I almost missed him, but I glanced over to my left and there he was as excited as ever and telling me that I could do it… Well thanks Rick…now I HAD to do it. Once again, I looked down and continued on.

The miles were going by now….I had 4 more miles behind me and turned onto to State street at mile eleven. I looked ahead and the street was wide and seemed very long. It was then that I hit my second wall, only this wall seemed much bigger and the impact all that much greater. Up to that point it was easy to run from house to house. They just seemed to keep going and I seemed to keep moving forward. Now I was judging my distance by stop lights that seemed to so……..far………apart.

As I reached mile 12, the police escort for the marathoners past me and right behind them in a full sprint were three runners. Here I was finishing 12 miles and these guys were finishing 25 miles. I guess it was due to the fact that I walked the aid stations……

After 12.5 miles I could see that the end was near. I had NO IDEA that the last half of mile would be so long. I wanted to stop and walk, just as I had done 1….ok 50 times that day, but now there were all these people watching me…. I couldn’t stop now, so what else could I do but feel the burn in my legs, the ache in my feet and move forward. Those cobble stones of the Gateway street seemed to stretch for mile out ahead of me, like little Lego’s stacked on top of each other….I saw my brother Josh and his girlfriend Annie and I was so excited, I then saw Stacey, Ryan and Rick and the rush that I felt was exhilarating.  I could see the actual finish line now. I could see the time click above the finish line. It was 2 hours and 29 minutes. I pushed just a little harder, I had to finish under 2 hours and 30 minutes. I crossed that finish line in a bit of a daze just before 2 hours and 30 minutes rolled around. I felt like I could conquer this again any time. I walked forward a few steps, received my finishers medal and found Rick. Something slipped out of my mouth that I barely recall now as I write this down. I declared to Rick at that moment, as the pain and fatigue finally caught up to me, that there is no way in hell I would be able to run a marathon.

The training will continue……. St. George Marathon here I come.