26.2

St.George Marathon 

2011

After wearing out 2 pairs of running shoes, discovering dozens of new running routes and training for HUNDREDS of hours…I ran my FIRST MARATHON!

On Friday, seven of my friends and I caravanned down to race in the beautiful terrain of St. George. After feasting our face off with carbs, carbs and more carbs and getting lost in the desert for two hours, we finally arrived to a random cabin where we would spend the night before the marathon.

5:30am. We ate a light breakfast, Isaiah 41: 10&13, dressed in our racing gear, strapped on the energy-gu and piled into a small car to the starting line.  In the midst of the darkness, large lights pierced the night sky to reveal the starting line.  Music was blaring, thousands of runners were all gathered around small fires, large lines surrounded the bathrooms…and everyone was excitedly/nervously conversing.

6:45am- the gun went off…I had awaited this moment for months…I had to keep reminding myself… I am running a marathon!

Commonly receive advice: DO NOT start out too fast because you will feel it in the end.

So Chels and I started off with a comfortable pace and we ran and ran and ran our little hearts out.  Some miles were BLISS and some miles completely ROCKED my body.

After mile 15, Chels and I felt SOOOO good. We dominated the hills and pounded the flat ground.  It was an absolute MIRACLE that Chels’s legs were doing so well…she has been having IT-Band problems and shin splints.  Prior to the race, she received a priesthood blessing and was blessed to be healed.  Every mile proved to be a miracle.

Marathon Friend: we met an older gentleman who was currently running his 75^th Marathon…CRAZY!

Mile 21: I was feeling great and wanted to continue onward at a quicker pace.  Chels told me to go on.  Leaving Chels felt like part of me was gone, I ALWAYS run with Chels, ALWAYS.  I expected her to catch up in a few minutes, so I continued onward.

"I tell our runners to divide the race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart."-Mike Fanelli

Mile 24: I began to experience a PAIN never before experienced.  I was beyond the point of EXHAUSTION.  My body was slowly shutting down. I REFUSED to walk. I had trained my heart out and I was NOT going to give up now.  It was my heart that kept me going, everything else was failing me. The last mile was….DEATH. It felt like the LONGEST mile I had ever run.

To me, RUNNING IS SACRED. The veil becomes so thin.  You experience the power of one of God’s greatest creations, our bodies.

GOD IS THE REASON I FINISHED.

The last three miles….I pleaded with Heavenly Father to help me finish, to help me put one foot in front of the other, to give me the strength to endure the pain.   Right as I was about to give in, I saw a few of my family members and friends cheering me on…I dug down deep and FINISHED. I DID IT! 

After incoherently waiting by the finish line for some time, my mom came up frantically searching for me to ask where Chels was. She said she felt like something was wrong, that Chels was in one of the ambulances driving by.  (It the hottest marathon St. George has ever had and tons of people were passing out and in dire circumstances that required assistance.) I told her not to worry, Chels was just behind me and she was still plugging along the last time I left her.  After a few more minutes, I looked up and saw men bringing out a stretcher from an ambulance.  All of a sudden I realized…CHELS WAS THE WOMAN LYING ON THE STRETCHER. I started to panic. I dropped everything I had in my hands and hysterically started pushing my way through the crowd to the stretcher.  Chels was flailing her arms and ranting about random things. She was COMPLETELY OUT OF IT. I had never seen her so rashly blunt and outspoken.  (We later found humor in it...my favorite thing she did: when a man was rubbing her painfully tight legs out, she kept saying, "OUCH, YOU ARE HURTING ME. I AM GOING TO KILL YOU." or" I AM A RUNNER. I AM NOT SICK. I SHOULD NOT BE IN THE SICK TENT. HA.) 

I found out she had passed out 800 yards from the finish line due to dehydration and pure exhaustion.  They asked me to stay with her because I calmed her down.  I sat by her side and rubbed her head and legs for a long while. I was emotionally and physically drained. I tried SO hard not to break down in front of her.  How could I have left her? I should have been there to catch and help her.  I should have been with her. I felt so much guilt.  I HATE seeing people I love suffer.  I had never seen Chels in such a horrific state; I did not know what to think or do. Spencer Anderson was an absolute ANGEL. I sent him to go get my mom. My mom and I just held each other and cried for a moment before she went into see Chels.  Today was just as emotionally exhausting as it was physically exhausting day.  It was a blessing we were right next to the ambulance when Chels came in.  We all sat by Chels for a few hours in the sick tent while the IV pumped fluids into her body and doctors cared for her every need.  Lesson: DRINK LOTS & LOTS OF WATER WHEN RUNNING A MARATHON!

Let me tell you, the sick tent is ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE.  People were dropping like flies on the course.  In the tent, runners were wailing, barfing, some passed out on the cots and grass and dozens were hooked up to IV’s.  

I kept thinking to myself…and we do this for fun?!  Ha.

We curled up on the grass for another hour until we could prepare to head home. We showered at a friend’s home and at 7pm we headed home with my mommy and Eliza.   

Despite the pain…it was a life-changing experience I will never, as long as I live, forget. I RAN A MARATHON. Running is part of my life. It is part of who I am. I would do it again…I will just wait a while :). We came home to enjoy conference…what a spiritual weekend!