The Haunted Half Marathon 2013

It's no secret that my monthly mileage has dipped tremendously.  You can just look over there on the sidebar and you will see exactly what I'm talking about-------------------------------------------------->  I have no excuses or reasoning for this other than it's just probably a burn-out issue.  I really truly have enjoyed all the races I've done all year long but I am just so ready to enjoy some Saturday morning sleeping in, especially now that it's getting so chilly.

At this point last year I was already signing up for any race I could get my hands on.  My thinking for 2014 is to leave my calendar a little more open so that I can hopefully experience some more trail racing and also go some places I've never been.  Fast Cory has alerted me to a few interesting runs for next year and we'll just have to see what happens. I'm still planning to do a few local half marathons but I really am ready to hit the dirt a little more and be able to do other races that show up later.  That happened this year and I couldn't do them because my running calendar was already booked. 

Well, so now on to the Haunted Half Marathon.  I HAD A BLAST!  After having over a whole month off of racing I realized this is still fun and I do still enjoy this.  I didn't enjoy the smells of the portapotties though.  Let's be real here.  Our Facebook group, Runner's Anonymous, met up together at the bus loading area up at the Salt Lake City Capitol.  There were 6 of us running and we hung out together until the race started.  We got to the starting line area and for me running is about seeing so many other friends.  Of course I had to go find them and get photos.

 Me, Melanie Maxwell, Denise Graves

 Me, Josh Hansen trying to help me not have to stand on my toes.  He's seriously like 6'4" His costume was a little disgusting but stuff that happens to guy runners.  I'm sure he will blog about it and you will want to hear his version.  Go visit his blog for the gross details.

Laura Madsen, and Molly Bitton, These are friends I've made through the pacing experiences I've had.  Such cute people.

 Julia Hubbard, such a dynamic, sweet runner that inspires me.  I want to be like her! She has a pretty cute little accent too.

 The Headless Horseman that mysteriously meandered around on his horse at the starting line.  A little eery, yet pretty cool too! (I don't know the runners standing there)

This race started at 9:00 am up in Emmigration Canyon.  It was seriously so cold that my hands and feet and body were just completely numb.  Once the race finally started I think I finally thawed out by about mile 3.  It felt so weird to run with frozen feet.  WEIRD I TELL YA!

I had no plans or expectations for my time with this race.  In fact, I just thought it would be so fun to just finally run a complete half marathon with Josh.  We've always run at least part of a race together but rarely if ever have run an entire half marathon together.  So today was the day. 

At around aid station number 2 there were delicious little mini cakes with frosting.  YUMMO!  I may have had three?  They came from a place in Salt Lake called Nothing But Bundt Cakes.  Who needs GU when you can have cake while running?

 Josh has turned into a professional photo bomber. He lays awake at nights figuring out different photo bombing moves.

 Don't mind the chocolate crumbs in my teeth.  I just wanted to save some for later K?

Later on down the course with about 4 miles left we had an apple bobbing aid station.  ICK!  No thanks.  I just took the apple without bobbing.  I know, party pooper.  That apple was awesome, sweet, deliciousness to munch on for the next mile.

 Oh my goodness!! I need to NOT do this pose again.  My neck is looking a bit scary there!

Graveyards are very appropriate to run by when doing a Halloween race.  We even ran right by a funeral home.  Pretty neat-O.  The views up here on this side of Salt Lake were pretty nice. 

As we came around a big bend in the road we started heading down, down, down into the Memory Grove Park area.  We had exactly one mile left to go and it was in this completely tree covered area.  The colors were awesome.  I had encouraged Josh (and maybe even nagged too much) that we needed to just beat the 2:30 pacer, who we kept leap frogging with near the end.  He rocked it and found some strength to finish strong.  We came in with a final time of 2:29:25-Garmin time.

The finish line area was stocked with Pizza, Creamies, mini chocolate bars, and water.  I tried not to indulge too much but needed some deliciousness for all that hard work.

A pumpkin for a finish line run-through?  Yes! Fun!  And what about these glow in the dark medals?  Pretty cute.  This was a great race and my second time running it.  I will probably run it again.  Costume running is definitely more fun.  It's fun to see what other people run in and it helps pass the time too.  Running with my buddy Josh made this race seem a lot faster than 2 1/2 hours as well.  I think I need to do this more often WITH friends by my side.  What a great morning!