Layton Half 2010

Layton Half Marathon—October 2010
2:11:38

Apparently the Mesa Falls half marathon didn’t discourage me.  I ran my next race just 40 days later!  This was Layton’s inaugural race, and I was excited to be a part of a new race.  I was a little nervous that things would be super unorganized, but they proved me wrong.  I was a little disappointed at first when I read the Half Marathon description; it was an out-and-back course.  But, in the end I was thankful for the out-and-back course.  The Expo was small, but efficient.  I picked up my bib and t-shirt and grabbed some local coupons for dinner that night.  We ate at the Red Lobster in Layton and I was in heaven.  Since the race was an out-and-back course we didn’t have to arrive as early as usual.  We got to the starting line at 6:30am and the race started at 7am.  It was dark and slightly chilly.  Justin was there to hold my hand and keep me warm before the gun went off.  IT was kind of fun to have him there to experience the crazyness of the startling line.  The gun went off and immediately I was ticked off.  I stood near the middle of the pack, thinking that I didn’t want to get in anyone’s way.  But, I suddenly noticed that there were people with strollers near the front, as well as people who were gung-ho about walking the race.  Are you serious?  Get your butt to the back of the line!  I almost tripped as I weaved around people, but finally caught up with people who were running a good pace.  The race started at the Ellison Park in Layton, Utah and we kind of meandered through some streets and ended up on Gentile street going towards Antelope Island.  We didn’t even make it close to the Island, and then turned around and came back.  Since I had never been to the Island before, I wasn’t too disappointed since I didn’t know what I was missing.  My leg started to hurt around mile 7, which was the time I spotted my Mesa Falls Half Marathon friend ahead of me.  My goal was to catch up to her.  I’m glad I did because I needed some help getting to the finish line.  My hip hurt really bad and I was debating whether to give up or just finish it out.  I’m glad I chose the latter . I finished the race with a new PR.  The one thing that bugged me about the finish line area was that in order to get your food & goodies, you had to walk downhill.  Anyone that has run long distance knows that walking downhill or downstairs is nearly impossible.  Luckily the change was made in 2011.  Overall, a great experience.  I loved the time of the year this race was held.

Too early.

Pushin along with my race buddy :)

You made me walk down a hill for warm water? WHAT?