Ogden Marathon

This year Dennis' sister Lanette got a relay group together to run in the Ogden Marathon. I have always wanted to see Dennis run so I was pretty excited about it. Dennis had to wake up at 4:00 am in order to catch the shuttle bus that left at 5am to take the runners to the starting line. The race started at 7am, so he had pleeenty of time to warm up, litterally, next to the fire barrels they had set up. I was so nervous for him I couldn't go back to sleep. They wouldn't let cars up the canyon road after the race started to I didn't actually get to see him run, but I picked him up when he was done. Thanks to cell phones we got a pretty current update on everyone's progress along the route. We all gathered together at the finish line so that the team could finish the race together. I was honestly surprised at the emotion I felt there! It was incredible! I didn't expect it to hit me so strong like that! I can't say how proud I was for all the racers, but for Dennis in particular. I don't know of anyone who has more determination and stamina than he does. If he wants to do something he can just go out there and do it! That's amazing to me!

Our three oldest kids ran in a Kid K that afternoon with some of their cousins. It was .6 mi along the same route as the marathon. It was really exciting to sit and wait for them. There were so many kids and a lot of adults with them, that I didn't even see Jacob cross the finish line. I did manage to find Isaac as well as Afton who had Dennis running with her. We met up with everyone as they were sitting down to eat their snacks. They each got a cowbell for finishing the race as well as a T-shirt.

Here are some pictures and a couple facts from the activities for the Ogden Marathon.

Relay Marathon:
Relay 1: Dennis (7mi)
Relay 2: Kevin (6.1mi)
Relay 3: Kaeli (5mi)
Relay 4: Lanette (5mi)
Relay 5: Susan (3.1mi)

The team crossed the finish line together at just under 4hrs 30 minutes. Dennis was really excited because he was able to run a 9 minute mile during his leg.