For my 50th birthday, I wanted to do something epic – something truly memorable. I decided to run a marathon (26.2 miles). I started training about a year ago. At first it was difficult. As a rule I don’t run unless being chased by something scary. Eventually, running got easier and then a crazy thing happened; it got difficult again. Soreness. Injuries. Burn Out. I spent so much time running and thinking about running, that I was no longer enjoying the journey to my goal. Also, intense training interfered with seeing the country and building memories of great times. We both agreed (Scott joined the training about a quarter of the way through) to work toward the less daunting half-marathon (13.1 miles) instead. The half seemed doable and wouldn’t take over our entire lives.

October 2 was the magic day. We awoke at 3:30am in order to get ready. We arrived at the meeting place at 4:30am where a bus took us to the starting line. It was completely dark, but the atmosphere was expectant. Loud music, trash cans with fires, and excited runners talking about their personal bests and nutrition. Being novices with no war stories, we were just nervous and apprehensive about what was to come.

BANG! The starting gun went off at 6:15, but sunrise wasn’t until 7:08. A herd of runners stampeding in the dark is not fun, so we stuck to the back of the pack. We passed through beautiful Snow Canyon (pictured) and into downtown St. George, Utah. With loud music playing and the crowd cheering, we crossed the finish line hand in hand. It was a gratifying experience and we are so proud of our accomplishment. We both agreed we are never running a marathon of any type again.