Wow! Have I Been a Slacker!

Sorry folks! I really wanted to keep my blog up this year, but with all the life changes, it's been tough! Here it is over 2 weeks since my last race and still no post! Well better late than never! In this post I will fill you in on two races I ran since the Salt Lake City Marathon.

The Provo City Half Marathon- May 7th

This race was my first race as a member of the Utah Race Pacers. I had never paced a race before. Fellow Maniac Jonathan Crampton, started the group and asked me to pace at the Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon, but due to a Galloway commitment, I couldn't get away. I told him to call me next time he needed me. The following weekend I was called into duty with my partner in crime, Teresa Baker.

Just a few of us pacers!

We decided since neither of us had ever paced a race before, that we would pace on the slow side. Teresa paced the 2:20 group and I paced the 2:30 group.

Me in my official pacing gear!

We drove to Provo met the other Pacers and headed to the start. The gun went off and so did we! The race weather was great! Teresa and I both did really well bringing our runners in within minutes of our projected pace time. It was a blast!

Teresa and I at the Finish!

The Ogden Marathon- May 21st

I almost didn't run this race. As usual the Ogden Marathon sells out super fast. Then one day I opened my copy of Runner's World (the marathon issue) and saw that the Ogden Marathon was voted one of the best marathons to run. I thought this was strange that they would feature a race that had already sold out. Then I looked at the fine print and saw that they were opening up a few spots for Runner's World readers. Me and a few other Utah Maniacs jumped at the chance and registered. The next day all the Runner's World spots were gone.

Maniac Divas at the Start!

The Ogden course is one of the prettiest courses I have run. The weather was perfect. I started off a little slow but felt good the whole race.

The Ogden course is one of the prettiest around.

The downhill sections on the second half of the course took it's toll on my knees, but sucked it up and finished strong! When I approached the finish line I saw Bart Yasso from Runner's World calling out names as we finished. I ran over a got a high-five from him as I crossed the line!

Getting a High-Five from Bart Yasso!

The funny thing is I volunteered at the race last year when Bart Yasso ran the race and I put his finisher's medal around his neck. It was kind of cool to have him greeting me this time.

Maniacs post race

What a fun day!