Marathon is Done!

 Yeah! Greg did it! He trained for months, ran it today, and now it's all done and over. Phew. 

We are all very proud of Greg here at our house. We have all been excited for him as well.

When he signed up I was jealous of the location he got to run it. The Ogden Marathon is up my favorite canyon and goes around my favorite "Valley" and lake (Eden, Huntsville, Pineview). Gorgeous scenery I tell ya. I wish I could have been along the route to see him and see the cool site of thousands of runners.

Here is a picture of Greg running and running. Check out his legs!  It was actually taken last month because I knew we wouldn't get one of him on the course. And then at sunrise this morning up at the start before the race waiting with our bro-in-law Abe.

Greg was running along with Abe and said he was feeling great and was pushing a little and doing a faster pace than normal, to finish in under 4 hours. Then at the dam at mile 18 he decided to stretch and bam, his IT Band locked up in his left leg. Then a few miles later the same happened to his right knee. So he had to intermittently walk and run the rest of the race. He was frustrated that he couldn't just run like he wanted. He felt he had the energy and was hydrated but it slowed him down. In the end he finished at 4 hr. 43min. He always said his goal was to finish under 5 hrs. And I figured that was a generous goal for him and he would do it under. But he did it! He's a 42 year old and ran for 26.2 miles! He is truly so happy that he did it. 

I drove up to Ogden with my boys. We stopped at the mouth of Ogden Canyon and waited in the shade by the river as the runners were starting along the parkway. And we were able to see and cheer for Uncle Abe (my bro-in-law). Then we jumped in the car and drove downtown and parked and walked 2 blocks to the finish line and be with Andrea and Greg's parents. Just in time to see Abe finish. Then I called Greg about every 10min. to check on him and be ready for when he is approaching the finish line.

Waiting in the sun was hot, the boys were troopers (Bo and Rafe below) Then after the race we met up with Greg and hugged him and took some pics. I got a cake for us to "celebrate" his accomplishment. Yeah!

 Here is Greg almost to the finish line. Jax, Andrea and Richard (g-pa) were right at the line and Jax was so thrilled to see him. I was a bit further down to try and get pictures. And then the family after. I wish we had one with the Denzer's.

 I LOVE that big smile on his face. Crossing the finish line. The End!

Oh, one more thing. I had my camera on the wrong setting, so that's why he's blurry! I'm so sad about it. Once in a lifetime and my camera was set wrong and I didn't notice. Oh and don't even ask to see the video I was trying to capture at the same time. Ha! That is a joke. I have to laugh. It was in my hand but certainly wasn't pointed at him. Geez. Next time?? I don't know that there is a next time. This is a big check off his bucket list.