Tremonton Fun Run

This has been the second time our family has run the Tremonton Fun Run. I can describe the 5K in three words. Run, free, and food. You just can't beat a free race that gives you a free pancake breakfast for running it!Greg did his long run the day before, so he volunteered to run the 5K pushing the stroller. Out of anyone I thought he got the best workout since he ran the whole thing pushing a stroller with two kids in the windy weather. Jensen loves to have a running buddy so he stuck pretty close to dad. Jensen's finishing time was 30:22, and Greg's time was 30:48.

I actually was the first woman to come in. (Being the twelfth runner overall). Therefore, I took home a pretty nice piece of hardware. My time was 20:42.

Chalisse had a new PR at this race. She came in first in her age group running in at 24:08.

After I finished running, I ran back along the course to find Andrea because she wanted to run as much of it as she could. We ran her last mile together. She finished it in 30:34. after Jensen gave her a little competition.

We took home a free watermelon that they also gave out free to the runners and then we ate a delicious pancake breakfast with sausage, scrambled eggs, and orange juice. The best part for me was no cooking or clean up. Heck yes I'd do this again!

Loving the Outdoors

Greg and I took a break from our hectic everyday life to spend time with our family camping and hiking. We went up to South Fork (around the Monte Cristo area). It was beautiful as you can see from the picture of our camp spot above. Our spot had a nice fire pit and picnic table, a shady place to pitch our tent, and an outhouse close by.
The first thing we did even before setting up camp was a hike along Wheeler Creek Trail. It was an easy 4 mile (out and back) trail with beautiful views of the Ogden River and wild flowers that dotted the pathway.
These are different pictures along the Wheeler Creek trail. The trailhead is actually along the Ogden Marathon course and close to Pineview Reservoir This is the view at the end and it is well worth the short hike. After that we left to go set up for camp and cook our hobo dinners before eating smores and turning in for the night.
The next day we had sausage and pancakes (which Greg cooked on his griddle) before heading to Causey Reservoir. Causey Reservoir is beautiful and we decided to take in a short hike. This Reservoir has many different trails around it that vary in difficulty.
We chose Skin Toe trail which was a 2 mile (out and back) trail. This one was a little more difficult for the little kids and not as well groomed. But the sights were gorgeous. After that the kids were requesting to go back to camp for lunch and have some free time.
Carson and Andrea loved going down to the river. Carson loved throwing rocks and seeing them splash before they disappeared over the waterfall.

Chalisse brought Uno which we played multiple times. I must admit that my kids ganged up on Greg a little so I could win seven games in a row. Gotta love my kids!

By the time Carson woke up from his nap it was time for Greg to get the coals ready for some yummy Dutch oven chicken. However, he told Chalisse and Jensen that they had to start the fire. They had to do this by using whatever Greg had on his hiking belt. Chalisse found the flint and steel and Jensen dug further and found the matches. Carson insisted that we have smores again so that was desert. We then went for a short walk around South Fork before going to bed. Chalisse and I woke up around 2:15 a.m. and looked at the stars in the skies and then we were cold so went back to bed.

The last day we had cinnamon rolls and cereal for breakfast. We rolled up our sleeping bags and packed up our belongings and headed out. However, we decided to take in one more hike.

Andrea requested on seeing more wildflowers. So we hiked Green Pond trail.

This was a 2.5 mile trail one way. It is one I would do again and again. The trail ends at Snowbasin. Andrea loved the wildflowers all along the way.
A little bit off the trail is a another trail which you can go and see Green Pond. I thought since we were hiking on this trail we might as well see the Green Pond. There was a little picnic table at the pond and we stopped and had a few snacks that Greg had in his backpack before heading back.

Our Ragnarly Experience

Since 2004, the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay has taken teams on a 188 mile journey through Utah's back roads from Logan to Park City. The Wasatch Back is likely the largest relay race in the country with nearly 12,000 racers running three legs of varying length and difficulty and running distances between 12-21 miles. That said, it is an experience everyone should have.

I was so excited this year when Greg decided to run it with me. The cool thing about the relay is the race is built so runners of various abilities can still push their limits. We had an awesome team this year. The Marabellas are missing from the picture, but from left to right (back row) are Jody, Blair, Braden, Matt and Greg. Front row (left to right) are Jeanne, Jessica, Amy, Cherilee, and Christy.
Greg did such an awesome job. He helped our team shorten our time because he was such a speedy mountain goat and he also drove most of the time which means no chance to sleep. Yep! That's me wearing the reflective vest, butt and head light. The rules are that you must wear these from the hours of 6:30 pm to 7:00 am. I was runner 3 and had a total of 18.5 miles to run. I was glad my legs had recovered from the Utah Valley Marathon the week before. I was 4 minutes ahead of my time on my first run. 20 seconds ahead of my time on the 2nd run and 2 minutes behind on my third run. (I was trying to average it all out to a 8 minute/mile pace).
Anyway, we finished it in 29.48.39.8. In the coed overall division we finished 171 out of 491 teams.

26.2 Miles Of Pain That You Enjoy

I ran the Utah Valley Marathon on Saturday while it was raining cats and dogs. I'll say the 26.2 miles is the enjoy part. The rain is pain part. I'm not sure how I managed a 3:29:11 PR at this marathon.
The course was new this year and I loved the beautiful canyon for 18-20 miles. There were about five pretty good size hills. However, what goes up must come down and so I used these to the best of my advantage. My time at the end of mile 13 was 1:45:00 which is two minutes slower than Ogden, but the same as the Salt Lake Marathon.
Several people came up to me at the end of the marathon and commented on how I kicked it in about mile 20. Perhaps that is when I saw my family and got excited. I don't have one of those cool watches to time my splits so I just run and enjoy every minute.
Thanks to Jake who let Greg and I stay at his home. Greg for all your support in everything, and for mom and dad for coming to cheer me on.