Solo Wasatch Back Run

Rachel Carson trail x 5:

Mark Sanderson and Leon Deitlaf completed their solo run of the 175 mile WBR course in approximately 45 hours. They started around 12:30am Friday and finished at about 9:30 Saturday evening. By the time they arrived, all of the runners were gone and the course cleaned up. We had closed off lower Main Street in Park City for the finish with chute, balloons, banners, etc., but for their arrival there was only a sidewalk with no crowds, announcers or cheers They finished in front of the Prime Steak House, running through a yellow caution tape held by my 7-year-old twin nephews. Mark's and Leon's families, Dan's, Tanner's and my families, and a few mildly curious onlookers at the steak house were the only people to see them complete the run. I don't know exactly what I expected, but their finish was one of the best moments I've ever seen in sports. We had received reports that Mark, in particular, was really struggling, even hallucinating at the top of Ragnar, leg 34. We saw them at exchange 35, where their families who were providing support were obviously very concerned about their condition. Dan and Tanner met them at the roundabout and ran down Main Street with them. When they crossed the finish line, they turned and quietly hugged each other. Then they hugged wives and family, and thanked us for giving them the opportunity. Leon told us it had been fun but they would never do it again. Mark apologized to Dan for taking so long and making us wait for them. Dan, who is about as sentimental as you and Dee, had tears in his eyes. I went home and pulled out George Sheehan's book, "Going the Distance," in which he writes about his final days dying of prostate cancer. There he makes the point that every victory is fleeting. None lasts beyond the moment. Afterward, process again begins of trying train to get back to the pinnacle. Most never get there again. And as we age, only with tremendous effort can we achieve a level that is something less than we once were. Those thoughts fit the occassion. I'll hold image of Mak and Leon embracing in my mind forever, but they found their limits and likely will never go their again. As Mark said, for the first 125 miles or so of their run, when runners along the course told them they were nuts, he thought they weren't. The last 50 miles or so of their run, he agreed with them. Fortunately for us, they were just crazy enought to show all of us who saw them stuggle down Main Street what human beings are capable of.

Happy Birthday, Amber!

"For the last two years, I've been a long-distance junkie, spending beaucoup hours prepping for half marathons, full marathons, half Ironmans and even a full Ironman, dismissing any race requiring less than three GU packs or later than a 4 a.m. wake-up call as not worth the price of registration..." - from the editor's letter in Her Sports + Fitness magazine

Sound familiar?

Bring on the next marathons - combo of Marine Corp and Chicago?!?!

Runnin' Down a Dream

http://www.gcc.edu/UserFiles/File/news/gedunk/Spring06.pdf

Check out page 16!

KABOOM!

Just printed off the registration form for the Firecracker 5K! (only $12 before june 24)
Can't wait. This is a new tradition in the making, I'm sure. Of course, Megan and Nathan are well ahead of the rest of the crew....hoping it will be as beatiful as last year...I need to find my special hair tie. Stars and stripes forever.

A Lonely Run

I ran all by my lonesome today...odd feeling. Can't wait to see you guys tomorrow morning!

And the training goes on....

Well - it appears as though we've picked up another victim to join us in our training and also the psycholers....our very own Grant McKinney!
My favorite thing though, is Deborah's idea about bringing him to spinning: "OH, and I'll def. be at spinning...Grant may even start coming to that. BUT
we will NOT be sharing a water bottle."

Let the madness continue....I just have to say that swimming is quicking becoming my favorite event to look forward to....very strange...

Sleeprunning

You know - I noted via my RSS feed of the Crazy Daisies sight that there were no new postings and somehow I felt that was normal since I was thinking we didn't do anything this morning. In fact, that is false, but I think I may have been sleeprunning during our jaunt this morning. I honestly didn't have too strong of a recollection of it until I really started racking my brain. Odd? Well, yeah for the Reverse-Wilkins!

The Wisdom of John

DRINK TIL IT'S CLEAR ...

(AND if you don't get it ask your neighbor)


Well Said John...spinning class is back to its crowded, difficult self...Always a good time when the right instructor shows up...

AND WE'RE OFF!

So the first official practice of the triathlon training program went off without a hitch as we slowly crept into the pool at 5:30...well more like 5:45 by the time we got our swim caps on... But, personal distance records were set and Amber and I both left the pool with smiles (even after I compared the workout to a track workout!). So here's to the summer of multi-sport training!

The Amazing Race Application

Someone from work forwarded us an article from KDKA that they were taping Amazing Race interviews to be sent in with the application. People from GYF have always told Amber and I that we should do it together, so we got all of our stuff together and hauled it up to Wexford to tape ourselves. All said and done we had to have a picture of the two of us (ALL pictures I have w/ Amber include Lisa and MOST of them have Lisa in the middle, but I found one that we cropped her out of. Sorry, Lisa.), individual shots of one another, copies of passports, a completed application (very long) and an interview tape. For our interview we did a typical day in the life of Megan and Amber - started at 4:45 am w/ alarms going off and ended at 10:30 pm after an evening of pizza at Michaels. It was very fun!

Next stop - Indianapolis for the semi-finals...then LA for the finals...then - the WORLD!

2 HOTT 2 drive

So...yesterday after a productive triathalon strategy/planning session, I made my way back to my car (which had only been parked for 1 hour mind you) - and nearly burnt my hands off trying to turn the steering wheel!! All I can say is.....at least I didn't get a ticket!