St. George Marathon

The start was early, but at least Heather and Chad were there too!

Somewhere in the middle of the race...

 The guy behind me holding the balloons is the 4-hour pace leader.

I was ahead of him most of the race.

Until miles 22-24 kicked my butt.

It was getting hot and I was getting very tired.

A very nice girl, whom I had never met, but was running too,

patted my back as I was slowing down around mile 24

She said, "You can do it!"

Later on, I caught up to her and told her thanks!

She said, "I'll run with you for a while"

My new friend Merilee is what marathons are all about-

We are all in the thick of it, cheering each other on, 

wanting success for each runner out there.

And in the end, I made it!

 4:03

That is 30 minutes better than my last time,

5 years and 2 babies later, I beat my own time!

It was an amazing feeling--

And to top it off, they also gave me a popsicle and a Coke!

But I couldn't have done it by myself...

Thanks Heather and Chad for the running advice and pep talks

Thanks to all the fans and volunteers who came out to the race and cheered along the way

Thanks Mom, Jordan, Steve and Kathryn for the finish line support.

Thanks Paul, kids, family and friends for long-distance cheers!

Indianapolis Marathon

We headed down to Indianapolis for the weekend so Paul could run another marathon.

First, the kids did awesome on the road trip--especially with the extra traffic getting out of Chicago!

Second, it was really cold, but the kids were great troopers to support their dad.  We also have to thank our friends-the Paul family, and especially Michelle

for helping out with the kids so Nora could get a nap.

(We had a long night before the run--Nora was sick and I drove through the streets of Indy at 2 am to find a 24-hour Walgreens.  She had tylenol and juice and was back to her happy self.)

Paul did great--he was tired and sore, but he made it!

Brent also ran it and got in at 3:30--amazing!

All-in-all another great race weekend!

Marathon Weekend

It was a marathon weekend, not only because Paul ran his 2nd marathon, but because Halle and I went, we tried to fit in so much! We got into Utah on Thursday and celebrated Paul's birthday at Cafe Rio with siblings and then had ice cream cake. We drove to St. George on Friday, had lunch with Paul's mission president and his wife who we love. We also got to see Paul's grandma, cousin, and aunt since they were in St. George too. While Paul was running, Halle and I went to see my family for a while and then went over to the finish line. Paul did awesome and was so fast that we missed his finish--we were still looking for a spot on the bleachers when he passed us by! We then headed to Cedar City to see my brother play football at SUU, where one of my first 7th grade students is his teammate--that was funny to see Taylor all grown up from when he was 12! From there we headed back to Salt Lake. Sunday morning, Spencer and Brittany celebrated their 2nd anniversary by cooking us breakfast! They were kind enough to get up early and also drive us to the airport--thanks again!

Job Well Done!

Paul ran his first marathon in Logan on Saturday along with my brother Chad and sister Heather. They did an awesome job! Although I couldn't be there at the finish line, I was with them in spirit! Many thanks to the friends and family members who showed up to support them--Paul said that's what got him through the last few miles!