Race Day!
Adrienne’s Race
Great first ever half marathon. Actually, the first time I have ever run that
far in my life. Yesterday they asked if
we wanted to do the half or full marathon or the Mayor’s walk. I had been thinking it would be fun to do the
half, but was nervous about committing to running it with no training. Everyone convinced me to do it so I did. Great day!
I wasn’t prepared clothing wise so Lisa and Julie let me borrow some
running tights and gloves. It was
raining and I was cold, but soon warmed up.
My first half was 58 minutes and I felt great so decided to go quicker
for the second. I had to stop two times
to tie my shoes as the Japanese runners were worried that I was not stopping to
tie them. It was fun to high five the
school kids that were lined up along the road.
I ended up with a 1:47 which got
me through the finish line in time to go and see Iain’s award ceremony. I am glad I did it.
Iain’s Race
When the gun went off a lot of runners took off very
fast. The eventual winner ran such a
fast first mile, I thought he would die off and not finish. A group of about 8 went ahead of me and I let
them go a few seconds ahead. By the end
of the second mile, I had passed a couple of them and was running with Fritz,
the overall winner in St George. We had
fun with the school kids, high fiving along the way. Fritz struggled today and I went ahead to
stay near a group of 5 that was chasing the leader. One of them moved to try to catch the leader
and ended up second in the end. I stayed
about 5 seconds behind the rest them until the turn around. It was an out and back course up and down a
canyon. When I caught them, one of them
threw in a crazy surge for about 5 seconds, then came back to the rest of
us. I mostly lead down the canyon. It felt great today with the temperature just
right and the rain on us. When we got to
the bottom, I was hoping at least one of the three would have been dropped. However, they were all still right
there. Each of us had the lead at some
point. With about 3 miles to go, two of
them moved ahead of me a few seconds and one of them dropped behind (I found
out he is 40. It’s difficult for someone
so old to keep up with me). I tried to
close on the other two, but couldn’t quite do it. So, I ended up 5th (I was 3rd
last time), but had nearly a 3 minute personal best for that course with a
1:10. I was very pleased with the
day. I won potatoes, rice, a nice
plaque, a medal, and a couple of nice certificates.
Other Things about the Day
Before we started, we were asked to say a few words to the
runners that were gathered. Julie’s host
family had prepared her a paragraph in Japanese. She did great considering she had never
learned any Japanese before.
Before the race, a group led the athletes in warm-up
calisthenics. That was very entertaining
(see the video below). We probably would
have run faster if we had participated.
Also before the race, the mayor of St George prepared the crowd for the mayor's walk by having us all sing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" (see video below).
Amber Green, the St George overall winner, finished 2nd. I was very impressed with that.
After the race, we had some food including a banana covered
in cream and sponge cake (kind of like a giant banana Twinkie). Adrienne tried “Fish on a Stick”. Amber bought it and had people try it. The fish are swimming in a tank, you choose
one, they put a stick through it, then cook it.
Ready to Rock and Roll
On the start line with my wife (that was the best part)
With Lisa, the one who loaned her a visor and tights. Julie loaned her gloves.
Finishing so fast the camera cannot keep up. She was still smiling all the way through the finish.
J
The sign says "Congratulations Finishers!"
At this race, many people dress up. Here is a small sampling of some costumes.
Looks like a great day for everyone.
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