3:30 came early but we had a slumber party at Jamaica's so we brushed our teeth, picked up the U-haul truck, and headed to Central, UT. We arrived just before the first bus of runners, unloaded all the mylar blankets and took a little walk around to check out the festivities. These are the little fires they started and runners huddle around to keep warm....
keep in mind the first bus of runners arrives at 4am and the race doesn't start until 6:45am.... some brought pillows, chairs, inflatable mattresses etc.... The perk with coming early is they get entered for prizes and massages etc... worth it? ... gosh I don't know!!We had to hang out for a while, and people trickled in with their bags...
We had fun people watching, there was a huge RV with music and our new friend Ed Rogers was announcing the entire time, he was So fun! He told the crowd: There was 20+ runners under 14, 18+ runners over 80, 6,500 runners total, every state was represented except Rhode Island, thousands and thousands of cups, hundreds of gallons of Gatorade and water, but the best part was that good ol Ed came over and met us before all hell broke loose! So listen ever so carefully and you'll hear Ed in the background telling everyone they need to come visit the FRAHMETTES at the Uhaul and give us their bags! He said it about 10 times throughout the morning, it was great!The buses kept coming, and when I thought all the runners were there, another bus would show up! It was crazy! Look at all the people....
The fun thing is finding people you know that you never knew were running! One of my very first roomies came down from Salt Lake.... This was her 4th Marathon and she hasn't been training and she STILL finished in 5 hours! Way to go Can!! Love you!
Cody and the Santa Clara fire boys signed up to run... (they loved our mylar blankies!)
This was Cody's first marathon! he was SO nervous and he did awesome!
I saw him with 3 miles to go and he was crampin up, but he still finished at about 5hr 15 min without any training for the past few months! Great Job Code!Jamaica's boss, some family friends of Jen's, some friends from church... the list goes on! You're bound to find someone you know in a crowd of 6,500!
Then the fun started! We became the popular commodity at the venue because 6,500 people needed their stuff hauled to the finish line for them! IT WAS MASS HYSTERIA!!! Jen and I were laughing SO hard! People were throwing their bags at us and we stuffed 1 1/2 Uhauls FULL of bags! This guy forgot his GOO in his bag and actually thought he could find 'his' bag...
... he isn't from the US and apparently didn't understand when I told him he's never going to find it! He never found it, his goo had a comfy ride in a uhaul instead of stuffed in his shorts!The race started... it was so awesome! Not many people see the start line without having to RUN back to town... I think I got the better end of the deal!
That many people create quite the mess.... they left loose clothing, mylar blankets, and trash EVERYWHERE. My bro-in-law Daniel and his scouts camped in Pine Valley and came to help out and they did a great job and I think they had a little fun along the way too!
Here's the aftermath.... all the starting line volunteers having hot cocoa and picking up trash and loose clothes...
this ENTIRE area was PACKED with runners just minutes prior.... notice the little black spots in the distance...those were the little fires, and the building down at the end... it was all overrun with runners. And the RV on the left, that's where good ol Ed rocked the morning! The sun came up and it turned out to be a perfect day!We had to pick up 6 refrigerator boxes of clothes on the way back to town and had a great time! If you're ever bored, just hang out with the Frahmettes....
NEVER a dull moment! I love my sisters... we make a great team!You really can get a LOT done if your day starts at 3am... I don't think I'll make a habit of it!
I headed to the finish line and watched the finishers for a while... I really love it, and it was a beautiful day!
Our local military helps with security so people aren't jumping the fences to run to the finish line with their significant other. I just thought this was inspiring... Thank you, for all your service, here and around the world, we couldn't do it without you... and apparently neither could this guy!
They really take care of ya at the finish line, here's Cody finishing, doesn't it look fun?!
They have music blaring and crowds of people cheering you on... and notice the 'cool zone' misters at the end, then they give you a medal, and you enter the park where they give you toast, all the Blue Bunny ice cream you could ask for, drinks, massages, more food, more drinks, prizes, etc.... you could run the marathon just for the perks at the end.... or not! :)
