May Race - Ogden Half Marathon

Over the last couple of months I've been running with Tacey (Emma's sister-in-law). She and her mother-in-law, Patty, have been training for the Ogden Half Marathon. This was their first half marathon and prepared so well for it! Since I am the girl that waits until the last minute to sign up for races, I didn't have a spot for this race (it sold out in 5 days!!). Well, lucky for me, Tacey and Patty were supposed to run with Millysa, but she was sick and not able to do it. So, my name was Millysa for the day and I got to run :)

I wore my Running Army shirt again for this race and was floored by the outpouring of support from other runners. Before I started the race, I had someone thank me for my sacrifice and Mr. Army's service. About mile 8, a lady tapped me on my shoulder and proceeded to tell me that her husband had just returned from Afghanistan the night before, and was waiting for her at the finish line. I was so excited for her, and a little sad for myself. About that same time, I had a few other ladies come up to me and tell me that they loved the shirt and were so grateful for my soldier's willingness to serve. By that point, I was so overwhelmed with emotion, I thought I was going to start bawling right there. Of course, the volunteers at the mile 9 water table were National Guard/Army Reservists. I stopped for water and every soldier I passed thanked me, and I had to laugh because I'm just the one home and I should be thanking them (and I did :).

As I rounded the corner onto Grant Ave. (mile 12), I was ready to be done. I was physically and emotionally exhausted. Then, this man and his wife came up next to me, and asked where my soldier was serving. I answered and the man continued to say that I was keeping an amazing pace and my soldier would be so proud of my accomplishments while he is away. And to tell Mr. Army that this couple was so appreciative of our sacrifice. That was enough to get me through the last mile. I didn't meet my goal of under 1:50, but I still have a few races to beat that time!

Date: May 21, 2011
Race Time: 1:54:50 (This is tentative, the race results online are incorrect)
Age Rank: 22 out of 180

 Getting to the finish!

The booty may look big, but the calves look muscular :)

That would be me, in the front, with my arms raised because I'm so thankful to be finished!

Tacey with A&T. She did amazing!

I LOVE this picture. C was so excited to run through the finish line with Grandma Patty. Patty was rockstar, and finished strong!

We survived!

I don't know why we posed like this, but I like it :)