The Thankful 13 is the only half marathon I know of in the state of Utah held on Thanksgiving morning. And what a fun race it is! I look forward to running on Thanksgiving before eating a big turkey dinner. It sort of helps justify all the extra calories consumed right?
I paced this race last year and was privileged to have the opportunity to do so again this year.
I got checked in with the pacing leader and got my pink pacing shirt and 2:20 sign and was getting ready for the race to start and mingling with friends.
All of a sudden I recognized a face that I had known for years but only through the blogging world. I had never met this fun lady in real life and so I was stopped instantly in my tracks. We greeted with smiles and hugs and chatted for a little bit. Her name is Jenny and I have read her blog for probably 6 years now. What a fun surprise to meet her and her daughters. Her oldest daughter was running today and Jenny was there to support her. Fun!
Mingling with Run Away Friends is always a great time!
So many friendships have been formed through the years in this little running family.
We got lined up for a pacer group photo and I was so delighted to get to have a partner to pace with me. It's very rare I get that opportunity. Her name is Jessica Bird and she was the sweetest little lady to run with.
We listened to the National Anthem as the military held the flags,
And then we got lined up and ready to run this race!
This race has grown bigger each year and there were certainly a lot of people running today. I'm guessing a lot of them had the same thoughts about running off the turkey dinner before eating it. Well, and the fact that running races is just pure fun.
A couple weeks before the race we could submit to the RD a list of 13 things we were thankful for. He posted signs all along the course of some of those things submitted. I was quite surprised to see one of mine out there. Of course a stop for a picture was necessary.
Jessica, my pacing partner is pregnant and wasn't feeling very well, but still did awesome pacing. She would be announcing to some other family members running today her big surprise! Congratulations cute little lady!!
It's sort of a rarity to have people hang out with you for an entire race. They oftentimes use your pacing sign as a goal to either stay ahead of that time or are a little bit challenged to keep up. Although there were people all over this course today, Jessica and I had 2 people hang with us the whole time and what a party we had. There was much chatting, laughing and fun conversations going on.
We paced the 2:20 spot and came in a little bit early at 2:19:07. Good times indeed! I love this pacing job!
The medal on the left is called a trilogy medal and was earned for running 3 races with this Runtastic Events group. The medal on the right is for running the Thankful 13 today.
I love this event and will probably run it each year.
The after race treats were so delicious:
pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, and hot chocolate.
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