The Ogden Marathon 2011

Race days are so fun!

This one started at 3:30 am. Dean and Braden were running the full marathon, so they had to be up in Ogden by 5:00 am to catch the bus to the start line. Me, Mike, and Amanda were running the Half, so we got to sleep in an extra 15 minutes! At our start line, there was a live band, barrels full of fire to stand around, and tons of port-a-potties. It's a really fun atmosphere at the start line! Both races started at 7 am.

Caitlyn slept at our house so she could help with Dex. Our neighbor, Michelle Perry, was going up to Ogden to watch her husband finish, and let Caitlyn and Dex ride with them. So we had the Perrys and Caitlyn and Dex cheering us on as we approached the finish line.

The first one to finish was Mike. His goal for this race was just to "not let his 50 year old mother in law beat him". Mike, really, do I look like I'm 50?! At any rate, he beat me, and that's what really matters. Great race Mike!

Next one across the finish line was me. I got a PR (personal record), but not the time I had set as my goal. I was pretty happy with my race. I didn't take any walk breaks, and maybe that was a mistake....next half I'll add those in.

Here comes Amanda. She was way faster than she though she would be. This was her first half marathon, and she did awesome! Tonight at dinner she was already talking about which half she could run next.

Now we had about an hour wait till the first of the full marathoners we were cheering for would start arriving.

The little kids were great. They played with bubbles and sidewalk chalk, and then would go out in the road and cheer the runners on, and then go back to playing with bubbles.

Here comes Tyler!

We thought Dean and Tyler would be running together, but Dean ran into trouble around mile 17 and told Tyler to go on without him. As Tyler ran past us he told us Dean was struggling and would be about 10 minutes behind him. Those were some very long minutes! Waiting at the finish line is really fun, watching people come in, just having finished a half or a full marathon....but when they are later than expected, it's terrible! Wondering if they are ok. Not knowing if they will be finishing, and if they do, what condition they are going to be in...

Finally we see Dean. He has a great big smile on his face. We know he is disappointed because he didn't reach his goal in this race, but hey, he just finished his 7th marathon! Great job Deaner!

Not very far behind Dean was Braden. He hasn't been able to train as much as he would have liked to, and not sure he has adjusted to the altitude here yet. (I guess he had to concentrate on school. Priorities? Whatever.) Braden ran a great race, and was very happy with how his body held up. Not his fastest, but a great run. I think this is #6 for Braden.

Tyler and his sister, they both had a great race.

Dex had had enough. Over 2 hours watching runners was too much for him.

Yay! My whole family.

Caitlyn is awesome! We love it when she is waiting for us at the finish line, she takes such great care of all us stinky, sore, and tired people. Thanks Caitlyn!

When we got in the car, Dex had to call all his friends to tell them the race results.

If you have read previous blog posts, you know that our tradition after long races is to eat at Cafe Rio.

Amanda and Braden

Mike and Caitlyn

Ej and Deaner

Dex was so mad that Caitlyn wouldn't let him touch her!

If we ever get together to take a picture with our cool race shirts on I will add that picture here. Don't hold your breath.

Next month's races: Nestle fun run, and Ragnar's Wasatch Back

Dean, Erika, Mike, Amanda, Braden and Caitlyn are ALL running those! How cool will that be?!