I ran up Provo Canyon with Kerry, Tom, Will, Wayne and
Larry. A young woman named Sheena missed the Sojourners group that was running Hope to Hobble, so Will invited her to run with us. I think she was 24. My daughter is 22, and I couldn't imagine her hooking up with a group of six old men she didn't know for a 20 mile run. Half of us were more than twice her age. Sheena must be a good judge of character, because she couldn't have picked a better bunch of old guys to run with.
Larry didn't want to run the steeper run up to Trefoil so he and Wayne headed up to Deer Creek from Vivian Park. Sheena decided to go with them. Tom wasn't going 20 so he turned back at Vivian. Kerry, Will, and I continued on up South Fork. We ran together until Kerry and I stopped for water and Will continued on (he had to get back). We met up with Will again at the awesome water fountain 3/4 mile from the bottom. He was having some knee trouble which had slowed him down. We drank deeply, multiple times, from the fountain. It runs continuously, supplying delicious cool mountain water.
The weather and the canyons were beautiful, and the company was excellent. I really enjoyed the run, and finished the 20 miles feeling pretty good. I did feel a little tightness in my right calf near the end, but I don't think it is anything serious, probably just a carryover from the fast half marathon the previous weekend.
We finished in around 3:02, just over 9:00/mi average. It wasn't a PR for the course, but it was a pretty good run. | 