My Marathon Story

We woke up the morning of the race at 4:05 am. My dad drove us to the bus loading area and we set out for a 30 min. bus ride up the canyon to the start of the race. When we got there it was freezing! We wore some extra warm clothes and I am so glad we did...there were fires to keep warm but there were so many people that it was hard to get close enough to really feel it. After being there for about 30 min or so we heard them play the Nation Anthem then before we knew it people were starting to run. We didn't even hear the gun! So we through off our warm layer of pants and headed out. It was still dark and cold but it was so exciting. People were cheering and runners were laughing and talking. Abe decided to teach me about accounting and what he was learning in school, I think he was getting board because I am not much of a talker while I run so it was fine with me if he wanted to chatter on. It actually made the time fly by pretty quick, before we knew it we were coming up on mile 7 were my parents and my sister Lissa were waiting to cheer us on. I was so excited to see them. It is a great feeling to hear people cheering your name. The next 5 miles were pretty brutal a huge 1.5 mile uphill and then 3.5 miles of constant up and down hills back to back. I had thought that by mile 16 I would be pretty beat up but to my surprise that is about when I caught my second wind. I was feeling okay till about mile 20 that is when I slowed way down and miles 25 and 26 were the worst! It was like after mile 20 someone was putting 10 pound weights on my back every mile. The last mile took us 30 min, but we still finished, and it was the most amazing feeling running through that finish line and having everyone cheering you on! Until that moment I couldn't understand why people would do this over and over again, but when we were done it was a high that I have never felt before. My body is pretty beat up now but I am recovering slowly but surely, it was worth it though.