Then I decided it would be best if he ran a race in between fall and spring soccer. I searched half marathons in Utah at the beginning of March and found the March Madness Half in Bountiful/Woods Cross. It was perfect! The date gave them enough time to train, not too far to drive and a really flat course.
The other really cool part about it being in Bountiful on the Legacy Trail is that when we lived in Bountiful I pushed James in the jogging stroller and ran the legacy trail for my training runs for my first half marathon and marathon. He loved going in the jogging stroller.
James’s friend Ben wanted to run a half as well. I made a training schedule and they did all of the training together. The training went well! They only had 7 weeks of training!
Ben got sick the week of the race and James got some 24 stomach flu on Thursday. I was praying they would both be well enough to still run it. Thankfully they both felt better in time.
At the race I asked them if they wanted me to stay with them. They were fine with me running my own pace. They trained at a 10 minute mile and I trained at a 9 minute mile. I was hoping to run a 8:45 mile and I thought they would run a 10 min mile being their first race. They were much faster and ran a 9 min mile. I ended up running 8:38 min mile.
It was an out and back course. I couldn’t believe how close they were behind me. I think this will be the one and only time I beat James.
James turned on the jets on the home stretch and took 1st in his age group and Ben took 2nd. 1:58 was James’s time.
I took 2nd in my age group. My time was 1:52. Not my fastest but not my slowest.
James felt great after. He really wants to run a marathon now. If all goes as planned we’ll run the Utah Valley Marathon together. I ran it a few years ago and really like it.
