Half Marathon x 2

While we were in Las Vegas, we ran a family race. It's becoming a regular thing we do when we go to Las Vegas. This one turned out pretty great. Pop and I ran the Laughlin Half Marathon and the rest of the crew ran the 5k.

Pop dragged me along the whole way and ended up finishing 10th in his division. I finished 5th in my division. Launce finished 4th in his division. Becca finished 5th in her division. Casey finished 3rd in his division. And Jason finished 1st in his division. Both Casey and Jason got finishers medals.

(Running the Laughlin Half, along the Colorado River)

I had a hard time during this race. It was hot, the scenery was stagnant, and it turned out to be a completely flat trail run (rather than road) which made it tougher. We ended up finishing in 2:29:38.2.

After the run, we started joking about doing another race the next weekend. Before we knew it, our joke became serious and Pop decided to drive to Utah on a whim. "Why not," he said. "I'm retired!"

So, we found this pretty awesome race hosted by Striders in Eden, Utah. This half marathon is part of their winter training circuit and ended up being the best race I have ever run in my entire life! When we started running the temperature was a little colder than I expected at 18 degrees, but by the finish time it was around 46. I didn't mind the cold once we got going. In fact, I prefer it. The scenery was soooo beautiful! We saw creeks, horses, cows, sheep, ponies, old barn houses, trees, mountains... sigh, loved it.

I also loved that Striders provided ice cold Gatorade and Blueberry Pomegranate Gu Chomps (my favorite energy booster) along the way. At the end of the race Roosters and Union Grill (my two fave Ogden restaurants) served us breakfast. It was also one of the best breakfasts I ever had in my life (scrambled eggs with mild jalapeno peppers and homemade salsa, fresh baked muffins, orange juice, fruit, and yogurt).

The best part of all is that we got a new PR! We blew our previous time out of the water at 2:16:47.4.