TOU 5k

What a great day for a run! The weather cooperated for the 5k people, the marathon people...........well, not so much. The 5k started at 7:30 am, at Merlin Olsen Park. We ran down on the island, crossed over and up to main street to 300 North, then back to Merlin Olsen Park for a well deserved finish. It was fun to see so many friendly faces. It started to rain on us about 1.5 miles into the run. We all got soaked. Kept our bodies cool though, so no complaints.

At the start, I ran into one of my friends, Mariann. I met her this past summer at one of our local 5k's. Mariann is AWESOME!!! She was with a group of ladies that have formed a running group, Northern Exposure. Looks like a really fun group. I am going to try to run with them at least once a week. Running with friends is always more fun. You have support and giggles along the long and windy roads! And of course, there was the famous and local Julia Barrett, age 80. I am always amazed when I see her. In fact, she ran the TOU half this year as well. I see her at most of our local races. There was an 85 year old lady from Perry, UT, that ran it in 51 minutes. She was the oldest participant in the 5k. MMMMMM, mirror mirror on the wall, is this me in 40 years??? By dang, I hope so!

I was able to run the entire route! I thought that I would walk when we came to the hill on main street. I was thinking, "OK, if Mindy walks, I'll walk." After the race, Mindy and I were talking and she said, "I'm so glad that you didn't walk on that hill. I was thinking if Lori walks, then I'll walk." It was nice to have someone to run with today. Usually, I am just in my own little zone. Mindy was awesome today. At mile 2.? she got her second wind and left me. It was nice to see her finish strong today!


My time was 32.02.3, which somehow put me into 3rd place!(In my age group female 40-49. The older I get, the better placing I get because the competition is not so tough! hee hee.) I was 31st out of 118 females, 60th out of a total of 174 people. But of course, Brother Perkins (72) beat me! Coming in at a 27.17.5! He has been running for years though. Mindy took 4th in her age group (30-39) coming in at 31.19.4!!! We were both super duper excited!!!

We stuck around for a bit to cheer on our old friends, and new ones met that day. The hand pedal bike guy came in at 1.17.21 minutes, for the marathon! We were also able to see the 1st marathon finisher, Paul Anderson clocking a 2.20.30! He looked so smooth crossing the finish line. This year he was the 3rd American male to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon. His closest competitor trailing 10 minutes behind him.

When I got home around 10:00 a.m., the weather really took a change for the worse. Lightning, Thunder, and Pouring Rain!!! The cut off was 6 hours for the marathon. MC Swim Team was in charge of rinsing out all of the water and Gatorade jugs. I went to the finish line about 1:30 to pick up the last of the jugs, and there were just a few stragglers still out on the course. Pretty inspirational seeing some of those people. One gentleman in particular caught my eye. He had on bright lime green shoes, and was walking with kind of a "hunched back/shoulder" I looked up on the milliseconds site to find his name: Eugene Rockwell from Chesire, CT, age 75, time... 7.09.17! I honked and cheered him on. It was kind of sad to see that things at the finish line were being taken down, the coned off path that you run through to the finish line, the "hoopla" atmosphere was gone. After all that effort, strength, and courage to finish, and not having the excitement at the finish line............kind of made me sad. I have to admit, I am kind of a sappy person here. As I was driving from the finish line, back-tracking to mile 25 & 24, I saw the final people completing their last miles. I honked and waved and cheered them on, and got tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat knowing how hard they had worked for this moment. The courage and mental strength it takes to complete this journey! It doesn't matter how fast you are, it's that you had the courage to start!

The oldest participant in the TOU Marathon was 80 year old Woody Whitlock, from Farmington, UT, with a time of 5.09.09. I hope when I get that old, my health will sustain me to be that active!

So .....Recap of the days events:
5:30 wake up to daughter telling me she is going up the canyon to film the TOU marathon runners. Wander outside to find her a camping chair to take up the canyon.
6:00 I get out bed, shower, make my morning fruit smoothie with protein powder. Get ready to RACE.
6:45 Mindy picks me up and we are off to the starting line
7:00 Arrive and was amazed at all the open parking spots! All the marathoner's loaded buses at the park to take them up to the starting line, so we thought that parking would be an issue. Not a problem. We parked really close to the starting line!
7:15 Mingle.....Mingle.....Mingle......
7:30 Gun start and we are off.
Race, finish, cheer on fellow runners, photo fun, and just have fun.
11:30 Go to Hyrum to help Swim Team rinse water and Gatorade jugs.
1:30 get choked up watching the final competitors come into the finish area.
2:30 Arrive at home.

Next event: Wasatch Woman 6k on October 8th.

I think I am becoming a Race Junkie!