Salt Lake City Marathon

April 2004

FRIDAY

We're off to our second marathon.
We can see the Golden Gate Bridge from the air.
There is a sign down there somewhere that reads
"G.G. Bridge," I like to think of G.G. Heder (Great Grandma).

Our fabulous Kim Clinger
(my bestest friend and Michael's cousin)
was at the airport to greet us. We had a yummy
Mexican dinner at Cafe Rio in West Jordan.
We always enjoy ourselves with Kim. She's
the one who introduced us and told us to get married!

Next morning it was off to the race expo to pick up our shirts
(you usually get a shirt with your registration fee)
timing chips (tie it to your shoelaces and the computerized
mats pick up your start and finish times), bib numbers, etc. We
didn't buy anything fun from the vendors this time except
a cute shirt for Breannie.

Time to drive the course so we'll know what to expect. The starting
line was on the University of Utah campus. Here is the stadium
where the Olympics opened and closed. See the unlit torch?

Under this bridge called Legacy Bridge is where the
race would start early the next morning.

It was a beautiful course, complete with lots
of greenery, colorful flowers, and snowcapped mountains.

It takes a long time to drive 26.2 miles so we stopped
for lunch a bagel place.

Yummy! Turkey and cranberries!

On the way out of an auto parts store we saw this
lovely sight I couldn't resist taking a picture of. This young
man had two pairs of undies on so one could be
baggy while his fanny was still covered.
I don't get it. The only thing I got was a good laugh!

More beautiful course.
This would be about the point, tomorrow, where the
guy on crutches was catching up to us sorry runners
who didn't train enough.

Still driving the course we had to stop
in for a box of Michael's all-time favorite candies,
Cummings double-dip mints. He'll pay any price.
It's a Feddock clan favorite.

This one is calling our name. Oh, and so is that one,
and this one!

I forget the name of this really neat looking shopping center
where the finish line was. Karen? David? Kim? What is it called?
Fine, I'll go look it up! . . . I see two names on the map
Olympic Legacy Plaza and The Gateway. Take your pick.

Time for din-din already.
We are Papa Murphy's regulars at home.

A quick stop at the grocery store for weekend food
including post race ice cream pints, and bags
of frozen peas for Laurel's thighs that would
be in great need tomorrow.

SATURDAY

Race morning.
Why am I up so early? Why am I putting
sunblock on in the dark? Where's my bed?

A little more awake now at the starting area.
It's chilly.

The important thing is to go potty before you start running
for hours. There are 30-40 port-a-potties lined up here.
The minute you get to the starting area you get in line
and hopefully you'll be out before the gun goes off!

Kim came with us to spend the day on the course.
A true friend, indeed! She is amazing.

The sun is coming up, we're about ready to line up.

I wondered why Kim kept getting so close to me with her
camera. She was taking pictures of my "stuff."
The blue stuff is gatorade. Along with my radio,
two Clif bars, and a 2-way radio to keep in
contact with Kim.

Back side, more Gatorade and GU energy gels
to keep me from running out of gas.

We're lined up, the gun goes off--crack!

There's Michael, I'm close by.
You start slow, and then you slow down.
That's what they say.

About 6 miles later Kim was at one of the
spectator spots. We're running by, then going through
a park and we'll be back on Kim's side of the road.

We see Kimmie and we get silly (she makes us like that).
You'll notice there are no more silly pictures after this
when we don't have any poop left to pop.
And what are those bikeriders doing behind us?!

Kim and Cheyenne join us for a 1/2 block.

Michael and I separated at about mile 7.
At about mile 11 I saw a cute man in a wheelchair
sitting in front of a medical rehab home. I greeted him
as we often did with the spectators. He looked familiar.
I got closer and it was Grant Marcus from the old
Woodland Hills Ward growing up! I told him who
I was, we talked for one or two minutes then I went on.
I hope he is feeling better, I don't know what his illness is.

This is about mile 17, Michael is walking, I'm less than
a mile behind him.

I was probably just running for the picture.
We were both too fatigued to run much more.
I caught up with Michael at the 18 mile
rest stop and we pretty much walked from there.
We tried running a couple of times but only
lasted a few yards.

Even though this marathon took us 30 minutes longer
than our last one it was easier for Michael but MUCH
more difficult for me. My legs were aching so much
and my footies were killing me! For one valid reason
or another we did less than half of our training and we
paid the price. We will NEVER do a marathon we're
not ready for again! EVER!

These are the computerized mats. We walked over them,
we finished, so what, get me a chair! If I don't sit down right
now I might kill somebody! The photographer was long
gone as was the finish sign.

There were still a few wonderful volunteers at the finish
to give us water bottles, bananas, oranges and a foil
blanket. The blanket was a nice touch, and we needed it!
There was a little chill in the air and these keep
runners from cooling down too fast. I was glad
to have it on, even in the blessed, glorious,
wonderful car.

The medal.
Was it worth it? It was worth learning the lesson, I suppose.

Just a few minutes after we finished and were walking to the car,
the young man with cerebral palsy came in, his brother running
beside him. He was really moving! He came in much faster
than we did. He was amazing. There weren't that many
people around anymore. It was an emotional,
amazing sight. I think we all shed a few tears.
What discipline. I later read he was doing 60
miles a week to train for this. He was the last finisher.
About 300 people who started did not finish.

It was nice to get back to Kim's, crawl upstairs
(literally for me) shower, put our jammies on, feed our
faces, nap and spend the rest of the evening on the couch.
It was a RATHER painful evening, getting around was
difficult and we made sure we had everything we might
possibly ever want before sitting down because once
you sit, you start turning into a statue and breaking loose
to stand up and move really hurts.

SUNDAY

At the Salt Lake City airport, we're on our way home.
Today is the day to wear our medals. We can't wait to see
Breanne and little Michael.

THE END