Wasatch Back 2009

This past weekend a group of friends and I ran the Wasatch Back. It is a 188 mile relay from Logan to Park City, Utah using 12 person teams taking 3 legs each. The team has two vehicles with half the team in each leap frogging past each other to complete the course. Our half of the team consisted of me, my sister Lorraine (Rainy), Amy Matthews and her sister-in-law Debbie, Tiffany Clyde and Diana Johnson.

We started our weekend by having a carb loading party at the neighborhood park and decorating our vehicle with stick figure likenesses of ourselves.

In the beginning we were all pumped and ready for the adventure. We met up with the other half of our team in Liberty where our first set of runs started. It was the hottest day we've had in about 3 weeks topping out at 80 degrees. I had a pretty easy first run of 3.4 miles which I did at an 8:48 pace, which is fast for me.

We made it to our next exchange with the other van at Morgan High School where dinner, showers and sleeping were waiting. The dinner was spaghetti (pass, especially after all the pasta the night before), the showers were communal and the sleeping was on a hard gym floor. We braved the showers but opted for Subway for dinner and the local park to try to sleep.

At 10:30 that night we were off for our next leg. My knight in shining armour (my husband, Dallan) met us at the park to drive us through the night. I am sure grateful because I don't think any of us were in any shape to drive. My next leg was 7.0 miles downhill except the last half mile, which I ran at a 9:13 pace. Although the head lamp was annoying, it was really quite exhilarating running at one 0'clock in the morning with all the stars in the night sky. About 20 minutes after my run the adrenaline had worn off and I was beat. I had a hard time keeping my eyes open and being an enthusiastic cheerleader for the rest of the team. After a couple of hours of dozing on and off I was back in the game, running water to the runner that was out and offering encouragement. We made it to our next exchange at the Oakley Rodeo Grounds and moved on to Summit High School to try to catch a little sleep before our next leg. Once again, the sleeping was on the hard gym floor with a gazillion other people moving in and out, which basically meant no sleeping.

After a couple of hours we moved on to South Field Park in Heber to meet up with the other van. About this time the rain started off and on. By the time my run came around it was raining pretty hard. After a few minutes the rain turned to a sprinkle so it wasn't so bad. My last leg was 6.1 miles, all uphill, which I miraculously ran at a 9:33 pace. When I turned the last corner to finish my run I saw before me a very steep, daunting hill. I decided to just look down at the ground so I wouldn't know how much further I had to go. When I got to the top and saw Diana waiting to take over I was so excited! I had done it! I completed my goal! All that was left to do was cheer on the rest of the team.

Everyone was so tough and did an awesome job. They were very inspiring, especially to Dallan. He thought everyone would have been in rougher shape by the end. He is almost ready to try this himself! I am so grateful that I had this experience and for the closer friendships that we all share through doing this together. I am also grateful for all my behind the scenes support. It took quite a few people to pull off watching the kids and all their exchanges! Thank you Mom & Dad, Sheralyn and Karen for taking such good care of my most precious possessions. It means so much to me. Thank you Dallan for always supporting all of my crazy hobbies and a great big thank you to all of my new sisters (Tiffany, Amy, Diana & Debbie) and my old one (Rainy) for all the support and encouragement and making this a wonderful experience for me.