The Hobbler Half Marathon

On Saturday, July 9th, the ultra fast Miss Lindsay Baker, Teresa Baker (my partner in crime) and I once again joined the Utah Race Pacers to pace at the Hobbler Half Marathon in Mapleton, UT. I was so glad when my assignment changed from pacing the 2:30 pace group to pacing the 2:20 pace group. I am not speedy by any means, but I knew the 2:30 pace would be hard to stick to, especially on a downhill course like the Hobbler. 2:20 was going to be a challenge, but I was happy!

Utah Race Pacers at the Start of the Hobbler Half



When pacing, it's best to pace at slower pace than you race. As everyone knows, anything can happen on the race course and as a pacer, you want to have a little wiggle room to ensure you bring your folks in on time. But, if you pace too slow for your ability, you will most likely go to fast leaving your group behind or just being inconsistent in the pacing. This was something Teresa and I (and the other pacers) tried to avoid and I think we all did a great job.

At the finish!

The Hobbler Half is a very organized and well run race (not to be confused with the Hobble Creek Half, which is a nightmare). The course is beautiful and fast.

The T-shirts were nice and the finisher's medal was great! Another bottle opener. I wish I had some bottles to open. I can only find Diet Coke with twist tops!

Nice Bling!

The Go-Go Girls and Ragnar's Wasatch Back!

On June 17th and 18th, I got the opportunity to run the Wasatch Back (for the 3rd time) with an AWESOME group of ladies. Teresa Baker had asked me if I wanted to run Ragnar with her team a few months ago and I jumped at the chance. Not only because I was dying to do Ragnar again, but Teresa and I were on the same team last year and had a blast! Unfortunately, due to some personal commitments,Teresa could not run, but signed on to be one of our required volunteers.

Our team would be called the Go-Go Girls. These ladies had it all together! Everyone had matching Go-Go dresses to run in, which were a total hit! Here are a few photos of our adventure!

Our van/truck! HUGE THANKS to Kathleen for letting us use it even though she couldn't run!

Getting a little support from Tina! This was the first of three up-hill legs! Whew!

Gorgeous Scenery!

The hand off!

After a long night (but we are still ROCKING the dresses)!

WE FINISHED!



The Utah Valley Marathon

On June 11th, a few friends and I ran the Utah Valley Marathon (well some of my friends ran the Half) and we all had a great time! I was a little nervous about running the full. I had a lumpectomy on May 24th and was hoping my "Frankenboob" would be healed enough to endure 26.2 miles of bouncing! I was also concerned about my training. I had only ran 5 miles in 3 weeks. I decided to go for it, but I gave myself permission to take it really easy.

Hysterical photo of Maniacs at the Start. The Porta-Pottys were just around the corner!

This was the first time in a while I ran a marathon not wearing the Maniac colors! This was my first sponsored race (meaning 1800 Contacts paid for the race), so I wore the 1800 Contacts singlet, but still sported the Maniac arm warmers and hat (I still had to represent!)

I have always loved this race. I did the half last year and really wanted to do the full this year. There are many things I loved about this race:

1) The weather was perfect. Sunny, but not too hot.

2) The Organization- This race is so well organized. I think it is because the race director is a runner. They always try to improve to meet the needs of every runner out there. From the packet pick up to the finish line, every thing was great.

3) The Course- one of the most beautiful courses I have run. We are super lucky in Utah to have a number of races with breathtaking scenery. Utah Valley is one of them!

4) The Swag- Nice shirt, nice medal and the gear bag was a reusable back pack which I really found handy. The Utah Valley Marathon also does something special for those who qualify for Boston. If you qualify for Boston on their course, you get another really nice "Boston Qualifier" shirt.

Patrick Finney showing off his BQ shirt!

5) The Finish- The finish line was moved this year so we didn't have to run that awful hill at the end! Seeing all our friends at the finish always makes the race fun!

Big congratulations got to Sue and Lindsay for placing in their age groups and Suzi for completing her first Marathon! Way to go!