Wasatch Back

Well...I finally completed a goal of mine, I ran a race. And it wasn't just any race, it was the Wasatch Back. 188 miles of beautiful scenery, hills, little towns and pain. My cousin Bryan got a team together of a few cousins on my mother's side and some of his friends. I was in a car with my cousins Scott and Allen McCracken and Jay Larson. Also in the car were two lovely ladies, Savannah and Jamie. Over the course of 29 hours, we came to be very close. You kind of have to get close when three of the six people are over 6'4" and you are all squished in a 4-Runner. I'm so thankful to Jamie though for the vehicle!

The race was everything I had hoped for a more. It was really hard for me. I wouldn't consider myself a runner by any stretch of the imagination, but that's why I've always wanted to run a race. I planned on running a half marathon or something of that nature, but I was never motivated to do it just for myself. When Bryan proposed the idea of me running with a team, I found the motivation I was searching for (I also paid the fee before I could talk myself out of it). I had the best people in my car and I'm so thankful to all of them for making this such a wonderful experience! They were all so optimistic and positive. Nothing could bring them down, and it helped me to keep myself upbeat.

Even though I threw up on the side of the road twice, got only two hours of sleep, and hurt really bad afterward, I still would recommend this race to anyone. I'm already planning on running it next year. Cameron is going to run it with me and we both have our individual goals with it. I want to be able to run the whole thing next year. I ran most of it, but not all of it and I know that I can do it. Cameron wants to run the hardest leg of the race next year. That leg is called the "Ragnar" for it's challenging 6.9 miles up a mountain. The poor person that runs the leg before doesn't get much credit because they only run 6.4 miles up a mountain. Heck! I think that any leg uphill should be called the "Ragnar."

Thanks everyone for such an awesome experience! I'm so glad I did it! Thanks Bryan for all your effort to get a team organized! Thanks Allen for doing so awesome with no training! Jay and Scott, thanks for buoying me up and for helping me through my first race. It was nice to be with people that had done a relay before. Savannah, thanks for helping me on my last leg. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't helped me run that last EXTRA mile they added onto my leg last minute. Jamie, thanks for taking pictures and for being so optimistic even though you weren't feeling well. I truly admire you! Thanks to the rest of the team for running!

You can see more pictures of my race on my facebook.