Dean decided to run Top of Utah Marathon as a training run for the St. George Marathon we have coming up in 3 weeks. It was supposed to be an easy run, just going to be his last long run before St. George.
He got up at 3 a.m. and headed up to Logan with our friend Tyler. Tyler's wife Michelle and I, and their 3 boys headed up at 7:30 a.m. to cheer them on at the finish line.
Michelle is a pro at marathon cheering. She knows exactly where to be for which race. In this particular race, the runners come within a block of the finish line at mile 24, then they do a loop. So if you put yourself at mile 24, you get to see your runner, then you have about 18 minutes to walk a block to see them at the finish line. So here is Tyler at mile 24. He is doing awesome! At this pace, he is going to finish at 3:24! about 10 minutes faster than he had planned. Great job Tyler!
He always stops and hugs his boys. At the finish, he lets the boys cross the finish line with him.
Dean was planning on finishing at around 4:15-4:30.
He shouldn't be showing up for another 20 minutes, but here he is...he is in the white shirt with the black shorts.
With only 2.2 miles to go, he is going to finish around 3:57! That is way faster than he planned. He said he was feeling great, weather was great, this was one happy Deaner.
Going strong with only 2 of the 26.2 miles left to go.
See ya at the finish. That should be in about 18 minutes from right now.....
Where is he?
He should be here by now...
Come on Deaner.....
Please don't be hurt....
Ok, if you are hurt, don't let it be to bad.....
Who needs to run anyway....
Don't be too sad.....
What could have happened since I saw you a few minutes ago....
Something is very wrong....
time to walk down the course and see what happened.
This is what I saw
Apparently Dean made some new friends! What a relief. I can't even begin to describe the emotions I felt when I saw Dean. Thrilled, sad, proud, sympathy, etc.
This article was in the local Newspaper this morning:
Lending a shoulder
Around the 25-mile mark, Dean Ellis noticed a fellow runner was starting to weave.
He had visited with Michael Howell of Manti and knew he was trying to run the marathon in four hours. They both were on pace to do just that.
But then Howell really started to struggle.
“I was afraid he was going to fall right on the gutter at about 25-and-a-half miles,” Ellis explained. “I got on his downhill side, and he lost it completely. If that other runner hadn’t come along, I don’t think I could have kept him moving. His eyes rolled back in his head.”
That other runner was Kelly Thompson, who is from Central Point, Ore. Ellis and Thompson helped Howell all the way to the finish over the final 0.7 miles. They crossed together at the 4:05:27 mark.
“I feel bad because he really wanted to make that four-hour mark,” said Ellis, who is from Riverton. “I wasn’t worried about my time. I just felt like he needed some help.”
Had they not helped Howell, he would not have finished and would have been hauled to the hospital by an ambulance. Instead, he spent more than an hour recuperating under the watchful eyes of EMTs at the finish line.
Thompson disappeared into the crowd of runners, as did Ellis after being interviewed.
They have made the last turn now, and the finish line is in sight for them.
....and of course, the picture with the race shirt and finishers medal....this one may be my favorite so far.
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