Running for My Mom (2012)
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| Running along 800 South in Salt Lake City. |
I got hooked on running so quickly because I had an amazing group of running friends, I loved seeing my improvement with each run and ... because of my mom. In March 2012, about six weeks or so before the Salt Lake City Half Marathon my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a shock to the whole family because of everyone in the family she was the healthiest and because, well, she was super woman.
I am so glad I had running in my life at that point because I am not sure how I would have processed everything? The day of her diagnosis I remember going for a run around my neighborhood that completely trashed my legs. I ran fast. I ran hard. And, mentally, I needed it. We didn't know what the future was going to hold and it sucked.
Wanting to do something not just for my mom, but other cancer warriors, I decided to raise money for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation as a Huntsman Hero. Essentially raising donations for cancer research, etc. Since my mom was going to the Huntsman Cancer Hospital for treatments it felt like a great way to pay it forward and give more meaning and purpose to my running.
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| I really looked (and felt) like a rockstar. |
The Deseret News even picked up on my goal and wrote a story about it. The story caught on. I had donations coming from complete strangers throughout the running community here in Utah and even out of state. I met the $1,000 goal within a week. By the time I ran the race I had raised nearly $3,500 dollars.
I was running this race in denim.
And, I did.
I got a lot of strange looks from runners and onlookers a like (a few traffic cops even commented if I owned running clothes). And, yes, it was hot. It was uncomfortable at times (especially after mile 10). But, I didn't care. I chose to do this race in a way that was difficult and uncomfortable. My mom didn't have that choice with her cancer journey. No one did. I could manage 13.1 miles running like a hot mess.
I actually ended up buying denim shorts afterwards and running in them for most of my races that year. It felt like a great way to honor my mom ... without dying from heat exhaustion running in long pants. But, the experience really taught me how running can be not just therapeutic but beneficial when running for a cause.
Running for Boston (2013)
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| At the start line of the Salt Lake City Marathon wearing my Martin Richard shirt. |
I wanted to use the Boston Marathon as a backstory of what an ordinary day looked like for me meaning my morning workout, commute, work day, meals, and of course tracking my friends who were running the Boston Marathon. I thought it would be a fun post and window into my routine.
Then everything changed about ten minutes to 1pm as I was finishing my lunch break.
That's when the bombs that Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsnarnaev planted earlier denoted causing mass chaos at the finish line of the Boston Marathon killing three people, injuring hundreds, including 12 who lost limbs. I was stunned. Shocked. In disbelief ... to say the least.
Of course my instinct was contacting the friends I knew that were there, but all of us that heard about the bombings found ourselves in our Facebook Group chatting about everything we were learning about the terrorist attack. There were even questions whether or not the Salt Lake City Marathon was going to happen.
However seeing the chaos, seeing the pain and feeling the anger of what happened, I think we all knew the race here had to happen. It had to. In trying to find updates on the Salt Lake City Marathon I monitored their Facebook page and along with many other runners commented about the bombings and what we could do during the race here in Salt Lake City. I had suggested many running in B.A.A and/or green colors in honor of the victims of the attack.
That's when the day got weird.
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| My shirt, bib and denim shorts ready for the 2013 Salt Lake City Half Marathon |
About a half hour later a reporter from the Huffington Post contacted me asking if they could quote my comment on the Facebook post about running for Boston here in Salt Lake. I thought that was cool and gave them permission. Less than a half hour later they sent me the published article.
But, it didn't stop there.
A couple of hours later I got contacted by a reporter from KSL-5 here in Salt Lake City wanting to interview me about the bombings and Salt Lake City Marathon. I told them I was actually at work at the University of Utah, but I could meet them at the broadcast house after work. They asked if they could come up to the U instead for the interview, which I told them would be okay.
So I was interviewed by KSL-5. It was the first time I had ever had a sit down interview on local news. They said it would air on the 10pm broadcast. The day I intended to show my blog reader was turning out to be anything but ordinary. I don't show my ugly face on the nightly news on a regular day.
And, of course, it didn't stop there.
After the interview when I got home, I got a call from KUTV-2 wanting to interview me for the news. I chuckled because this little Facebook comment I made online blew up into all of this. I honestly didn't know what to tell them because I was just interviewed on KSL-5. Do I decline? Do I tell them I was already on the news? It was a weird situation.
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| Waving my flag after The Star Spangled Banner at the start line. |
But, it wasn't about me. Yet, I somehow became this face of the local running community during a time where the spotlight was on the sport. It was a strange place to be, but seeing how my friends were impacted by the tragedy, especially those who were in Boston during the attacks, I took this temporary role seriously. I saw the grief, I felt the hurt and seeing the impact on the victims hit me hard.
During the few days leading up to the race I had a shirt made with the quote from one of the bombing's victims, eight-year- old Martin Richard, "No More Hurting People. Peace." I was also interviewed on the radio about the race and what I was planning on doing to honor Martin Richard along with the other victims. It was quite the week leading up to the race.
On the day of the race I showed up to the start line near the Olympic Legacy Bridge on the U of U campus. I was wearing my shirt with an American flag in tow. As I stretched and stood at attention for the Star Spangled Banner I had a few photographers crowd around me taking pictures of me. It was odd. But, I just tried to ignore them and just act naturally (which I am sure I wasn't).
Those photographers were apparently were AP photographers and those pictures ended up on KSL.com, Deseret News, CNN, Fox News, BuzzFeed and a few other places. It was nuts. But, with the craziness of the week it didn't surprise me either.
The run itself was rather therapeutic. It was cold. It was rainy. And, I just ran with my thoughts while holding the American flag. My hands were numb by the time I got to the finish line, but I didn't care. Any pain or discomfort paled in comparison to what the victims of that Monday's bombings were going through.
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| At the finish line of the Salt Lake City Marathon at Liberty Park with my Mom. |
This experience really taught me to just jump in when I can do something to help others heal ... no matter the degree. I wasn't there in Boston, but I was around runners who were or affected by the horror, and if I can help them process the situation I'm going to do it.
There's a lesson here that when you jump in ... things happen. This is something I feel like has become a core characteristic of who I am. I have a hard time being a bystander when I see a need. I don't wait to see how I can help, I act. I help. I do what I can.
And, the 2013 race was where I learned a lot of those lessons.
Running for Fun... and Slurpees (2014)
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| A picture of the exact moment when everything changed with my running. |
Going into the race I had a time goal of 2:25. Three weeks prior I had done the Riverton Half in 2:35 and with the training between races I felt like I could improve on that time. The fall before I had hit my half marathon PR at 2:09 at the Mt. Nebo Half and my goal was to work toward a sub-two hour PR. I felt great about that goal and things so far in 2014 were looking good.
However, I wasn't going to reach my 2:25 goal for this race. Far from it. And, really for the better. At the start line I was DEAD tired. Quite literally. Instead of my normal pre-race routine of getting good sleep the night before I pulled an all-nighter because I went ghost hunting the night before.
Yes, ghost hunting.
That's a whole other story for another post, but long story short, my brother was in town from California and he did a ghost hunting event at Ft. Douglas (on the campus of the U of U). The morning of the race, I was tiiiiiiired. The energy drink I nursed at the start line had no affect on my fatigue and I knew fairly early on I was going to struggle during the race.
Once we got started I did feel pretty good, but within the first couple of miles once we got past Memory Grove my body was just not feeling it and I started struggling around mile 3-4 of the race. I was running solo at this point, but quickly felt that I needed to run with a friend to get myself through the race. I knew I wasn't going to sit my 2:25 time goal, but I still wanted to get a reasonable finish time.
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| Jill & I during our photoshoot at Liberty Park during the Salt Lake City Marathon. |
Once Jill came up a few minutes later she was running with our friend Shelley and I could tell she was struggling too. She was kind of surprised to see me and I told her I was only the struggle bus as well. I don't know what changed in that moment, but something changed. Seeing the struggle Jill was having both physically and mentally and feeling what I was feeling ... I kind of decided, we need to have some fun.
So that's what we did.
We walked a bit. Chatted. Chatted with random strangers. When we got to Liberty Park we saw the race photographer and decided ... we need a photoshoot! Soooo we stopped to have a photoshoot. And, I mean we stopped for a photoshoot. We couldn't stop laughing.
And, if that wasn't enough fun for one morning, we stopped at 7 Eleven about a half mile from the finish line to get ourselves a Slurpee. A Slurpee we held high in pride as we crossed the finish line. The looks we got from spectators and other runners were ones of laughter and smiles. And, quite honestly, those who knew me weren't that surprised.
This race though changed so much for me. Not only was it a fun memorable moment with one of my greatest friends, but this race gave me the permission I needed to give myself to be okay not always trying to be faster than my last run. This was the first half marathon I finished over three hours (there was one the year before, but I don't count that because I got lost on the course) and ... I was okay with it. Which if this happened a week prior, or without a Slurpee, I would have felt embarrassed by my time.
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| Jill & I posing with our Slurpees after the Salt Lake City Marathon. |
Very embarrassed.
This race taught me that I needed a variety of races. I still very much needed the ones that challenged me, but I also needed the races I do with others. And, above all of that, I learned not to take myself too seriously, especially when plans go sideways. That's when a Slurpee is sometimes your only solution. And, as many know I have a tendency to stop for a Slurpee mid-race. In fact, it's kind of what I am known for within the running community (there are far worst things to be known for, so I'll take it!).
Additionally, and this is a post for another day, it taught me despite what happens to your plans and goals, you control the narrative. You can pivot mid-race and still finish with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Like I said, that is all a post for another day. But, that realization really started here, at this race.
This specific race will always mean the world to me because that mentality has found its' way into so many different areas of my life.---
Anyways, I can't wait for this weekend's race. I have no idea what it holds. But, I know it will be an adventure. One of the reasons why I will always run during the Salt Lake City Marathon weekend is because this race has given me a number of moments that will always stay with me ... even beyond the three I shared with you above.
As the running mantra says: "One run can change your day, many runs can change your life." It couldn't be truer with the Salt Lake City Marathon.
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