Saturday I ran the Wonder Woman Half Marathon. It was probably the hardest half marathon course I have run. They didn't try to make this one easy! Friday we drove the course, and Friday night I had a hard time sleeping, knowing that all those hills were going to be a real test for me. I decided I wasn't going to care at all what my time was, just do it as if it were a training run. It was hard, but I can do hard things. (That's what I tell myself each time I'm running and want to quit)
It was a women only race so instead of finisher's medals, they gave us these cute necklaces. I love that feeling when I have finished something that was hard for me.
Dean missed qualifying for Boston by 11 minutes this year. About a month ago Dean put his goal time to qualify on our fridge so he can see it everyday. He is looking at the St. George Marathon as the one to qualify on. I know he will make it, and when he does, it will be an awesome accomplishment for him!
The 2013 Boston Marathon was today.
Dean and I got home from our Crossfit workout and turned on the computer to watch the elite runners finish. It is so impressive how talented those runners are, and how dedicated they are to their sport. We were also watching on Facebook to see how our friends had done in the race. The first notice was from Jamie Spiers' sister Melanie, letting us know that Jamie finished in 3:17. That was 10 minutes faster than her time last year! There were lots of nice comments congratulating Jamie, including mine. Then came that horrible post about the bombing. I began asking for Jamie or Melanie to respond and tell us they were ok. Word that they were ok eventually came. The husband of a friend of mine was running it, and after several hours, we got word that they are ok too. Another friend of mine has an office that overlooks the finish line, and he was giving updates and pictures on Facebook as well. All day I was hoping to hear some news that made this make sense to me. There is no new information, but I still can't quite grasp why someone would do this, or how it is going to impact future marathons.
I know the people that were participating in the marathon have worked hard to get there. My heart goes out to those that have been affected by this terrible act.
I know in the marathons that I have run, the crowd cheering me on was a huge boost for me in those last couple of miles. I'm wondering what the answer is to protect the people at marathons, and yet still allow big crowds to cheer on the runners. I love the atmosphere at the races. I'm afraid that in order to keep people safe, they are going to have to change the energy at the finish line.
The Salt Lake Marathon is this week. It will be interesting to see if the organizers of that race will make any changes based on today's events. Good Luck to our friends that are running the Salt Lake Marathon!
(we are not running the Salt Lake Marathon)
