Went to bed at 9:30, woke up at 11:00, 1:00 and 2:00. I must've slept because I kept dreaming that I overslept the alarm and made my runner partner (a famous movie star) late for the marathon...very stressful and funny dream. Anyhow, Karen, her sister Jill and Toby came to pick me up at 3:15 for our ride up to Ogden. I was groggy and sleepy but forced a piece of bread with sunflower seed butter that I got at Boston packet down in between fun chats with the girls. It had rained all night and still raining. Used the warm bathroom in the Summit hotel (formerly Marriott) and walked to the bus line. Saw Josse and her friends, John Vuyk. We got on one of the last buses and sat at the very back of the bus to avoid waiting too long up in the cold and wet and muddy filed. Ate a Greek yogurt (2 hrs before race) and had so much fun looking at Toby's pictures from Venice and Italy! Did I mention I love that girl? We ran into Lowell and Susan right when we got off the bus. Susan went with us girls to line up at the farthest pops where we saw Matt and Wendy, Brian and Emily. We then spread our garbage bags on the ground to sit. Karen spotted Maynard and brought him over to our pad. Then it was time to make another trip to the pop before shedding our coats and warm up pants. What a muddy mess, in the haste of clothing bag drop, my inhaler must've fallen out of my capri's side pocket which I didn't discover until later when we ran into some nasty headwind and I started coughing. Jill, Karen, Toby and I made our way up to the road to the start. We again ran into Lowell and Susan. It must be fate! :). What a lovely morning aside from the constant rain. I kept hoping that we will see a rainbow. Toby did a great job keeping track of me. I was having some wardrobe malfunction, the caprice kept slipping down my silky smooth holy garments and the weight of the cell phone in my back pocket kept dragging it down. I find myself pulling up my pants every 10 steps! :). I finally gave my cell phone to Lowell to carry in his rain jacket pocket. Somewhere around mile 4 I saw Eric and we dhatted away while my running friends disappeared into the distance yonder! O well, I didn't want to slow them down anyway. At the next aid station I lost Eric so I decided to see if can catch up to my friends. At mile 6 Susan was standing in the pop line so I ran up to Lowell and we walked slowly and periodically turned to look for Susan. My caprice was still slipping down so I pinned it up with one safety pin and that did the trick. I loved the low hanging clouds and the luscious green fields and mountains, the running horses, the volunteers at various stations who came out in pouring rain to support us. Many dressed up with themes such as Egyptians, Richard Simmons complete with cheering posters, island dancers, SO FUN!!! :). With their permissions I hugged and kissed (on the cheek) a young half-Asian girl, a Black young man with one leg, an elderly volunteer trying to offer me candy which I took a piece and sucked on (butterscotch). Whenever I see little children, I'd go over and give them five, trying not to get them wet as they were under the protection of their parents umbrella. I did not look at my watch once, sometimes I had to ask the aid station people what mile we were at during the middle miles. This being my 7th Ogden, I do know where the hill is and that the dam is at mile 17 and then it's downhill canyon miles till the parkway. Susan was freezing cold bordering on hypothermia. Lowell was getting really tired and kept having to walk. It was quite a task to keep both of them going. I know Susan needs to run to stay warm and Lowell needs to walk to recover. So I would run with Susan then back to get Lowell. Susan refused to leave Lowell so she would walk when I went to get Lowell. At mile 21 we saw a guy in kilt carrying a flag/banner. Lowell suggested that may be we can run towards him. I did thinking he would follow. I caught up to kilt guy, startied asking him all kinds of questions anout him and his mission that day. i even carried the flag for quarter of a mile or so. By the time we got onto the parkway I have lost Lowell and Susan. The first tunnel was semi flooded so we ran singled file on the right side. Half a mile later, I decided to run back up the canyon to get Lowell and Susan. All the runners thought I had already finished and now back to fetch my friends. Ai finally found them and I made them holler "choo choo" as we ran thru the tunnel. With the slow pace, I found that we needed to use the bathroom quite often which suits Lowell just fine because then he could walk while us girls use the pop. We had to cross the road off fhe parkway to use the pop When I came out, I could not see Lowell and Susan anywhere. So I asked a bystander if he'd seen two yellow poncho runners. He said no but would keep an eye for them and let them know I will wait for them at the next aid station. I found a runner shivering and offered my cheapo poncho to him. He refused to take it from a girl. I ran back to find Lowell and Susan. When we passed this large freezing runner again, I told Lowell to give him his poncho (which we picked up earlier in the canyon when Lowell was wet and cold). I'd encourage walkers to jog with us, tell them that we're having a fun water fight with Heavenly Father...He won...but next time I see a rainbow...we'd know He still loves us! :) Teena called and we chatted. Susan was worried about her family waiting in the rain at the finish. They don't have a cell phone. I had no idea that Lowell had called my hubby and told him I was cold and wet and lost my inhaler. Actually he probably said Susan and my hubby thought he said Susanna. Poor hubby was worried sick when in reality I was neither cold nor wet. Yes, my feet and arms are wet but otherwise I was quite warm and dry. When we got off the parkway, Susan and I ditched our poncho for the photographers! :) Lowell picked up a straggler name Sam. She was walking a lot. So now I have three people to encourage. I would give them target to shoot for a particular hymn to sing when we reach the temple or the next traffic light. Only problem is while we did trio in the earlier miles now became solo (me) singing and annoying the heck out of the other runners. But I did get a lot of smiles out of the runners and bystanders. When we got close to the barricade, I told our foursome that we have to run holding hands high and proud all the way to the finish! I won't let go of Sam's hand when she wanted to walk! After we crosssed I gave her a hug and did fist pumps. I went over to meet Susan's husband, Eric and their children Elizabeth (9) and Austin (6)...such cute kids. I looked at my watch for the first time and it was completely dead, no screen nothing! Toby, Karen and Jill were there to hug me right when we crossed. They had waited forever for me in shivering cold. Such wonderful and loyal friends! I am forever grateful for their abiding love for me. I was in their "waiting" situation last year after pulling out of the race at mile 6.5 from a stress fracture and taken to the finish by hubby. I stood at the right side of the barricade until noon cheering everyone in, first ever DNF with no medal, just a painful broken foot and heart. Today, when they put the medal on me, I felt a sense of redemption, I kissed that medal...I finished what I came to do...I kept my promise to stay with my friends. It may be the slowest marathon time I've ever run,(I have no idea what my finish time is) but one of the most satisfying Ogden Marathon. Ogden holds many special memory for me even though I have not had "good" experience (mostly with cramping the last mile on Grant St.). It was here that I met Teena and her brother, at the time not knowing her name. I have run with many good and loyal friends such as the Waites, Maynard, RAD and my own son Eric. There was no food left in the finisher corral, only bottles of water, small cans of coke, some orange and banana slices. Hubby came over to hug me and was totally surprised that I was dry. Karen said I was probably the only dry runner out there! "are you cold?". "nope, my body, my heart, my spirit was WARM!". How is it possible that all I had on was a flimsy cheapo poncho (the hood was not even on my head the whole time), a long sleeve Boston race shirt over a silky holy garment? While many runners had layers of clothes, Susan and Lowell had Northface hats with ear muffs, jackets, poncho, two to three layers of shirts/tops and long pants etc on and they were so cold that they made a beeline to the hotel for a warm shower. In a warm marathon, I would pour water all over me so I was usually wet but today under rainy condition, I was dry, incredible! :). Could it be the protection of the holy garments? I like to think so. I also feel that I ran with not just the warmth of friendships but the companionship of the Holy Ghost today! :) Hubby took me to his favorite restaurant, Upchuckarama. I was starving so it was just fine! I have no soreness now hours later! I cannot post any picture or check on pace because my computer is somewhere in a box enroute to Australia. I am posting this on my iPad. Good night and sweet dreams! | 