Ogden 1/2 Marathon Race Report

Back in January, I decided to do this race and was thinking I would run it for time because I think it's a pretty fast course. However, after some thought I decided to run this one with my mom, which definitely took any stress away from the race.

On Friday afternoon, my parents and I took my niece and nephew to Ogden with us to pick up race packets and to stop off at the bike shop for my dad to pick up some stuff for his first century ride. The expo was small, but there was an ice cream truck there that made their ice cream with an old John Deere engine and so John, Kate, and I certainly enjoyed that. I also found a new pair of racing sunglasses.

Saturday morning, the alarm went off at 3:42am. I got up, got dressed, grabbed a PopTart, and jumped in the car with my parents. My dad dropped my mom and I off in Ogden and he headed off to Salt Lake for his ride. My mom and I hopped on a bus, rode up the canyon, and found a campfire and then waited for about 90 minutes for the race to start.

The first mile went fine and then we started up the 1/2 mile hill that makes up part of mile 2. I love this hill and felt great, so I got up to the top and waited for my mom (she hates hills...like seriously hates them). While I was waiting a woman trudged by with her husband saying she wanted to quit and this was dumb. I met up with my mom and then ran ahead on the next hill. The husband of the crying wife ran by talking to his friend about how that hill really scared her and that she really wanted to do this race, but wasn't sure if she could. Mile 3 has an incredible view of Pineview Reservoir and we actually crossed the dam at mile 4. The next several miles are a really fast downhill and at one of the aid stations, there was RedVines licorice, which tasted fantastic. At another aid station there was watermelon which might be one of the best foods I've ever had during a race. Miles 9-12 are run along the Ogden River Parkway which is a great little trail with lots and lots of shade. The last mile of the course was run on Grant Avenue in downtown Ogden. We ran past the temple and you could actually see the finish line for most of the mile. I actually sprinted through the finishing chute and felt great.

I ran all of the hills and actually strided down the hills as well. My mom ran the course pretty well, but she really struggled around mile 6 and didn't like running on the parkway at all. She also struggled alot during the last mile. I tried to help her out by picking "targets" for her to pick off, but that didn't work too well. She finished this race faster than the Indy Mini, so I think she was happy about that.

After the race, we got our super cool medals, grabbed our gear check, and changed clothes. The post-race tent was awesome. They had uncrustables (my favorite), Jamba Juice smoothies, Creamies, fruit, Great Harvest Bread, ice bags for everyone, water, powerade, etc. They definitely have the best postrace that I've experienced. We grabbed our stuff and then headed back out on the course to cheer. The plan was for us to wait for my dad, so we figured we could cheer the marathoners in. The crowd was actually pretty dead, so I made sure and yelled, rang my cowbell, and clapped for all of the runners. I even got some smiles and a high-five. The woman standing next to me said, "I want you to run with me during my next marathon. You're so encouraging and inspiring." It was definitely a good thing to hear because I was wondering if the people around me were thinking, "I wish that loud person would just shut up!"

I also forgot to mention that at the beginning of the race, while standing in the port-a-potty lines, I saw an older man, pushing a homemade racing wheelchair with a handicapped guy named Bart. The wheelchair had flags that said "The BartMobile" and I got all teary eyed. We passed them on the course and the dad was telling someone that he pulled his hamstring trying to adjust the wheel while running so he was really struggling. We were in the finishers area when they crossed the finish line. The dad stopped about 5-6 feet from the line and Bart walked across the line. It was so inspiring...even the announcer was a little emotional.

I love this course and will definitely run this race again. I'm thinking that I might have to run for time next year to see what happens. Now, I get to start focusing on my next race, which is in 2 weeks. It will be my first triathlon of the season, so that should be fun and interesting...

Mile 1 - 10:54 HR - 144
Mile 2 - 12:31 HR - 152
Mile 3 - 10:58 HR - 151
Mile 4 - 11:06 HR - 150
Mile 5 - 11:26 HR - 151
Mile 6 - 12:19 HR - 147
Mile 7 - 12:24 HR - 149
Mile 8 - 11:43 HR - 153
Mile 9 - 11:23 HR - 155
Mile 10 - 11:45 HR - 151
Mile 11 - 12:19 HR - 155
Mile 12 - 12:37 HR - 156
Mile 13 - 13:09 HR - 163

Total Time - 2:34:39
Average HR - 152, Calories Burned - 2454