Bryce Canyon 1/2 marathon, Yeah Baby!

As part of our trip to Pine Lake our family decided to run the 1/2 marathon at Bryce. (More like Brad decided that we were doing this and dragged the rest of us kicking and screaming all the way. Yes, it was Brad even though there are those who are trying to pin this FABULOUS idea on me!) All kidding aside it turned out to be really great. The night before the race was a little rough however. What with crying children, a various assortment of farm animals that made sure we weren't sleeping (what was with the Stewart's rooster at 2 am anyway?), failing fire alarm batteries, the bed wetting alarm, and of course just general jitters, there just was not much sleep going on! We had to be at the shuttle stop for pick-up at 5:10 am, not much fun. The picture above is all us at o'dark thirty before setting off to the shuttle stop. (Erik is asleep on his feet!) It was early but turned out to be a lot of fun. We chatted with the people around us and learned their stories. Phil also kept yelling out and jumping around. He had way too much energy for that time of the morning. (Could it be that those lovely John Stockton shorts were allowing the cool air to get easily to his umm..vital parts and invigorating him?) Anyway there were a lot of characters to look at, and talk to, and there where a lot of people who ran the race, 1007 to be exact. Up at the starting line it surprisingly wasn't hard to get excited. There was a lot of energy around and of course we had Phil.

My whole family ran the race and did sooo awesome. I am so proud of all of them. Wendi had had an injury and wasn't planning on running, but after some serious wardrobe planning the night before she ran the whole way! Troy and I did not run because of an injury that I had. Troy was so great to stay behind and walk with me. It's not very manly you know, but he did. It turned out to be a fun time together, walking down the dump as the sun was coming up and being able to talk together kid free. The scenery was gorgeous and although we've spent a lot of time down at Bryce I can honestly say I have not seen it at that time of day and it is so worth it. The colors were indescribable and it was cool and peaceful. (Mostly it was peaceful because we were at the end of the race!) We did not finish, we walked 8 miles to Tropic and then I limped home. I was proud of myself for making it that far, especially with a numb right leg. The picture below is Troy and I coming into Tropic, and yes those are the pace cars in the background. There are 2 other people behind us though, so we weren't dead last. I'm so glad that we did it even though I wasn't sure it was such a great idea at the beginning. We just might do it again next year. Thanks honey for keeping pace with me, I loved every minute of being with you!