Go Big!

Everything about the Big Cottonwood Marathon was big, amazing and awesome. I definitely recommend this race. Races are expensive and most the time you are wondering what your money paid for. With this race I feel like I definitely got my money's worth! You get high quality race shirt, gloves, emergency blanket, lots of swag in the race packet that you actually use, plenty of aid stations and port-a-potties along the race course and a great finish line area with lots of nourishment and lets not forget the gigantic finisher medal. It's almost the size of Kaden's head, ...ok so not quite that big.

I'm addicted to running marathons. Not only does the training give you motivation to exercise everyday, but then you get the adrenaline rush during the race. Then after the race you have a huge feeling of accomplishment. I can't get enough. This is a crazy fast race. There is so much downhill. I was running ahead of the 3:25 pacer and then got passed up around mile 20. When I got to mile 20 my lets started cramping and it got really tough. I kept running until I was about 3 miles from the finish line. At that point I thought I was going to pass out and every muscle in my leg was so cramped that I felt crippled. I walked/ ran the last 3 miles and got passed up by the 3:35 pacer which was my end goal. I tried to keep up but there was so way I physically could with all of the cramping going on. It was a bummer but since I had my best friend with me I decided to enjoy it and be happy that at least I could finish and still beat my last marathon time. Marshall was an amazing support through the whole race! He stayed by me on his bike from mile 15 to mile 23. Then he ran with me from mile 23 through the finish line. I loved having him by my side and can't wait to run a full marathon together.

The canyon was beautiful! The weather forecast said rain but thankfully it was wrong and it was a beautiful sunny day.

I finished in 3 hours 41 minutes. It was 5 minutes faster than my last race. It's so exciting to continually improve despite everything. It will be nice when I can figure out the muscle cramping and hopefully get to the point where I can qualify for Boston. Until then I will continue to enjoy running the marathons in Utah.