Provo River Trail 1/2 Marathon

I ran the Provo River Trail 1/2 with my friend Ryan Kelly. I wasn't planning on doing it because I was leaving soon for a mission, but decided it would be fun. I had a blast! Even though I wasn't as well trained because of it being more last second, it was practically all down hill so that helped I think :)

Some time in July of 2005...

Here's the stats...

Bib #: 1267
Age:21
Age Division: F 20-24
Division place:65/151
Sex place: 261/937
Overall place: 634/1520
Time: 1:56:40
Average pace: 8:54

Salt Lake City Marathon!

My first full marathon and with a hurt foot! I trained so hard though
and still went through with running my first marathon in Salt Lake City,
UT...my home city! I ran right by my high-school, Olympus, and had so
much support from family and friends. I really loved the experience and
learned a lot about the power of attitude. I smiled a lot of the time and
cheered with the fans, giving tons of high fives, and cheering on other
runners by me. It helped me to push myself and I knew I could do it. I
also had a goal from the start, that with my hurt foot, it wouldn't matter
what time I got, but I did have a goal to never stop. I ran just fine the
whole time (had to stop twice for the restroom though sadly) until mile
23...oh mile 23 I definitely hit my wall! It wasn't until then that my foot
started to hurt a little, but after a mile or so my foot went numb...not so
good for my body, but it helped me finish the race. I was proud of myself
for never stopping and for finishing! I did it! It was so fun running hard
at the end into the finish with a huge crowd cheering all through the
gateway mall.

April 24, 2004

Here's the stats...

Age: 20
Age Division: F 20-24
Division place: 66
Sex place: 492
Overall place: 1490
Time: 4:34:02

I stopped my watch when I had to stop for the restroom,
because one time I even had to wait in line! My watch
time was 4:12...so a little better :)

St. George Half Marathon!

Painters Half Marathon in St. George was my very first half marathon! January 18th, 2003. Ran it with my mom and my sister Tiff.

Here's the stats...

Bib: #415
Age: 19
Age division: W19-24
Place in division: 11th
Place overall women: 39th out of 236
Time: 1:46:14.0

Let's start from the very beginning...

My story? My life was soccer growing up. I loved it and played daily so I had no need of doing anything else active. In training for each season we'd do A LOT of conditioning and even though I never really hated it because I knew it was necessary to perform my best, it wasn't my favorite either. I never thought I would be the type to enjoy running without a soccer ball in front of me. Ever since 9th grade I started running on my own here and there, especially in the off season, but it was always with the mind set of wanting to be in shape for soccer. Why would you just run for the fun of it? Little did I know.

So after graduating high school, I had the opportunity of playing for a school in California that recruited me. I didn't feel right about it and wanted to go to BYU. I was going to try out for the team and honestly felt like I was able to make it, however, I had two reasons for not trying out. 1. Even though I could make it, I don't think I would have got much playing time (at least not the first couple of years). and 2. I wanted to major in Athletic Training which if you do, you can't be on a sports team because of the time commitment. In the end I decided to stay really involved through playing soccer for fun with pick-up games, indoor leagues, and BYU intramurals. I stayed true to that and played as much as I could...but still something was missing.

My freshman year, my sister Amber, who was in her Senior year at BYU, wanted to run a 1/2 marathon in St. George. She wanted someone to do it with her and I volunteered. The half marathon was in January of 2003. We ran together often, but then Amber had a lot of other things that made it hard for her to keep training. I continued on my own and later my mom and other sister Tiffany, decided to also run it.

I trained hard and ran every day. I couldn't believe how much I loved it! It was so much more than a workout...it was my exodus, my out, my pondering time, my stress reliever and on and on. When I would miss a day, I felt like something huge was missing...that's when I knew I was hooked for life...

So here's my story and the rest is history...I'm a runner for life!