Race Montage Blog!

My friend Trevor suggested that I should do this episode of Plump Runner as a montage, since I have 4 races to report on (I'm not very good at the whole "timely blogging" thing). I only wish I had the technological skill set to add some epic 80's music while triumphant pictures and inspirational quotes filled the screen. Since I can't manage a montage, I'll just give a quick and dirty recap with plenty of pictures. Deal?

The last weekend of September, I completed my fourth and final marathon of 2012, the Huntsville Marathon. This was the final race to get me into the Marathon Maniacs. Mission accomplished, by the way, you're looking at Maniac #5880! Woooooo! Any way, the race was gorgeous. The canyon we ran down was very scenic. The leaves were at their peak of fall splendor and the weather was perfect. It was an easy downhill, nothing too steep and jarring. I managed to finish in my second fastest marathon time of 6:10 and some change. I know basically everyone in the world runs faster than that, but I was pretty pleased.

Those are cat ears with the medal shot, he just can't stop being a camera hog...

The second race to report on was the Utah Half Marathon on October 13th. It had spent the entire day before raining and being quite cold. But the weather held for the morning of the race. Thanks Mother Nature! My friend Jesse ran this race with me as his second half marathon. He wasted me by a good bit. It was a super hilly course, the first 6 miles were basically uphill. It was a nice run though. Lots of great old homes to run past. My best friend Krista came to the finish line and brought cake! Woooooo! Gotta love that chocolate cake.

The third race was The Other Half down in gorgeous Moab, UT. I loved this race sooooo much. Moab is such an awe inspiring place! The scenery can't be beat, the weather was absolutely perfect. The Taiko drummers at the top of the hill at mile 11 were goose pimple worthy. Great race swag too! I will definitely be running this one again. It's actually a fairly tough course, quite hilly, but who cares when you get to run in such a beautiful setting?! After the race, we made sure to hike up to Delicate Arch and enjoy the perfect lowering light, which set the red rocks aglow. 

And the final race of this report was this last Saturday, the Harvest Halloween Half in Syracuse, UT. It was a tiny little race, maybe a couple of hundred runners. I dressed in costume, as a runner. I'm so very clever. It was a nice little course, flat and easy. I didn't feel very good for the first 5 miles though. After a pit stop and a good mental reset, I just started plugging along and by mile 6 I was feeling pretty good. I was able to catch up to the group by mile 10 and was passing a few people in mile 11. There wasn't a medal, but there was a nice finisher glass, so I'll live. 

This weekend brings a half marathon in exotic Pocatello, Idaho. C'mon, you're all jealous. I'll leave you with a shot of my two favorite things :)

Happy running!