Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Fun Run in the Gun!

This past weekend was the Spring Run-Off Race in Gunnison, Utah. My mom and brother (Curtis) were signed up for the half-marathon and I for the 10K. Curtis had to back out because of a stress fracture though - darn it!

Mom and I before the races. Apparently the sun was bright only for me.

Tyler and I drove our new-used car (2000 Lexus RX300) down to Gunnison right after work on Friday. (We seriously love our new car and are amazed at the great gas mileage we get.) We met my parents down there just in time to enjoy the salmon and sweet potato dinner my mom had prepared. Yum! We played some games and headed to bed early.

The next morning was the race! My mom's race started at 8:30 a.m. She had to be shuttled to the start line so we didn't get to cheer her on at the beginning of the race. After she took off with my dad, Tyler decided that he should use Curtis' registration and run the 5K. Then 10 minutes later he decided he should just run the 10K with me. Keep in mind he had NEVER run a race before. The furthest he has ever run with me was two years ago in St. George for about two miles.

We hurried over to my parent's trailer to find some running attire for Tyler. Only thing is...my mom was the only one with any running shorts. First he tried on her running skirt. Uh - no! Then some running Capri's. It was cold outside! They were a little tight in some spots and not tight enough in others, so he pulled some of her shorts over top of the Capri's. It was a sight to behold. At least he had his own shoes and t-shirt.

Tyler stretching in my mom's stretchy pants.

We made it back to the starting line to hear the race organizer review one last time the exact course of the race and then we were off! One guy we named 'bright-green-shirt-guy' shot off fast and was ahead of everyone. Between us and bright-green-shirt-guy were about 10-15 other runners.

Mid-way we are feeling good, but were surprised that bright-green-shirt-guy had not yet passed us again. Hmmm. We turned around where we were supposed to and heard the girl manning the water station on her cell saying, "Isn't this the turnaround for the 10K? Ya. That's what I thought. Well, a bunch of runners kept going."

Wow! I guess that puts us at the head of the pack now!

With only a little over a mile to go a little girl flies past us and I yell to her, "Are you running the 5K or the 10K?" Seriously, she's like 10. She kind of rolled her eyes and said, "The 10K." Like...duh!

Tyler crossed the finish line about 50 yards before I did. Tyler completed his first race and came in SECOND PLACE!!!! Nice job, Tyler! I came in THIRD.

At the Finish Line

We both felt a little bad about the runners that went too far, but hey, part of winning a race is being alert enough to stay on the right course. The medals are all ours!

At the award ceremony when they called the girls name that placed first in the 10K, several little kids yelled, "She cheated!" Huh. No wonder I never saw her on the entire course until she pulled out in front to take the gold. Little cheater!

We finished a while before my mom so we went back down the course to cheer her, and the other runners, on. One guy even said, "More cowbell, please." Oh ya...I was obnoxiously yelling, clapping and ringing two cowbells. Tyler might have been just a little bit embarrassed to be with me...maybe.

I ran the final mile with my mom!

With our silver and bronze medals...and our new car!
Next race...Ogden Half on May 15!

Tyler, you joining us?????

2 comments:

Lara Eppley said...

Way to go Tyler and Brigitte! Too bad we couldn't be there to see you do it :-( Nice car, too!

Sheri said...

Congrats on the race! And I love tht you were both wearing red with your new red car...matchy match. Can't wait to ride in your new car.