Porter's Half Marathon August 30, 2014

What an absolutely perfect/beautiful day this turned out to be.  I love this race and have run it now for three years in a row.  Each year has been such a different experience, yet each experience so valuable.

I picked out a couple photos from Porter's scrapbook and pinned them to my back as I have done each year when I run this race.  Although the race is about Porter Rockwell and not specifically in honor of MY Porter I like to think it is.

I got up super early, around 4:20 am and got up to the Draper park by around 5:30 am for packet pickup.  I met up with a few friends from my running Facebook group for some great visiting and hanging out while we waited for the bus ride up to the starting line.

 Me and London Riding.  

She and I have shared a lot of miles and conversations together.  A great lady, and friend.

This was a much smaller race than many other races, with only about 150 people running the half today.  

The weather was incredibly perfect.  It started a little warm even, but right off we got some nice winds to cool things off and even some cloud cover to help.  The whole run was just absolutely gorgeous!  I love to look at the mountains and skies and all the scenery around me as I run.  It helps keeps my mind off the hard stuff.

We gathered for a pre-race group photo and then got ready to run.

I had no specific goals for this race except have a great time!  Well, let's be honest, it would be nice to hopefully run it just a bit faster than the two previous years.  (2:14:39 and 2:30:48) I have been working super hard over the past 6 months with core work and trail running and hoped that all that work would carry over into road running.  

Good news!  I completed the run in 2:08:59 and I was very pleased with that time, yet my experience out on the run was more important than the time.  Really, truly I was just so enjoying the moments of kind words from people as they would pass and see my sign.  There were some great conversations from a few others as well. 

I was so honored to run with a great mentor and friend, Cory, whom I met while running ultras this year.  I'm learning that everyone in life really has a story and if you just stop and talk and ask questions and listen, they oftentimes want to share.

After finishing the race I, of course, found some delicious food of watermelon, and oatmeal and just sat on the grass and ate and visited some more with friends.  My heart was just so happy and in a peaceful place.

 We hung out at the finish line for quite a while just enjoying the atmosphere and the excitement that you feel from finishing a race.

I tend to turn into a silly dweeb at times from the runner's high I get after a race.  Oh well!  It's who I am.

My pacer friend Monte in the orange shirt took 7th overall in the race and first in his age group.  His wife London right next to him, took third in her age group and was extremely pleased as well.

An excellent day!  I'll cherish it always!