First Ultra Marathon Experience

I didn't know what to expect when I got to the race. I had created an image of what I thought an ultra event would look like and once I got there, I realized my image I created was, mostly, wrong. There were young teenagers running. There were 70 year olds running. Short, tall, big, small....all walks of life. I am seriously inspired by everyone here. It just proves that no matter what size clothes you wear, what you weigh, YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS! You can do whatever you set your mind to.

I had the privilege of meeting 3 amazing women. The first one, Suzanne, was from Arizona. I did a few miles with her and learned a lot about her. I think that's my favorite part of the whole ultra marathon, hearing the life stories of the runners. Susanne had been dealing with stomach cramps since mile 3. When I first met her, she had just taken a shower and tried to relax a bit, hoping her stomach would settle with time. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Susanne really inspired me. She had such tough conditions during this race but she never gave up. Even after sleeping a bit during the night, she got back out there to keep logging miles. I'm not sure what her original goal was for the 24 hours, but it amazed me that even though she probably had to let that goal go, she kept pushing and doing her best. She ended up getting 45 miles in. I find it simply amazing that she never stopped trying and that is something I will forever remember! After doing a few laps with her I ran into my friends I came to meet and cheer on. I ended up doing a lap with them but then started talking to another lady named Jennifer. (Funny story, I TOTALLY thought her name was Shelley! THE WHOLE RACE! After realizing I had been calling her by the wrong name, I busted out laughing. I realized that the look she had given me EVERY time I was taking to her was a, "oh, you're talking to me?" face. I felt like a total dork) Anyway, this lady totally inspired me. We talked a lot about training for marathons and trying to qualify for Boston. She told me she used to train to run fast but she was now enjoying ultras. I can't remember, but I think this was her first ultra marathon. She ended up running her longest distance and finished with 62 miles!! Jennifer also had some trials. I think it was just a hard day for everyone. It was extremely hot during the day and one little thing you didn't do, escalated into huge problems. Nausea, cramps, dizzy spells...everything becomes a hundred times worse in an ultra marathon. No matter if it's 30 miles or more. I'm really impressed with these 2 ladies and their pure determination to not quit. I'm 100% sure I would have stopped completely. I learned a very valuable lesson here. Never stop trying!

After a few miles with Shelley, I mean Jennifer haha, I ran into the wife of one of my friends I came out to cheer on. This was her second ultra. She was struggle a bit with some gnarly blisters. I met Her around 30 miles and she only needed 10 more to reach her goal. I decided I would help her finish. I had a great time talking with her. She is such a fun lady. She too inspired me. She wasn't able to train very much for this race due to a crazy work schedule but also an injury she was just overcoming. Her longest training run was 2 hours I believe, and here she was going for 12 hours. Melissa never stopped. Even when her TWO quarter sized blisters on her heels popped! Talk about tough! It was such a blessing to meet her and hear her story and to finish with her. I knew that coming to this event, I would be inspired but I never would have imagined I would be this inspired! I get goosebumps just thinking about it! So awesome!

At this point I had already gone 20 miles. I was a little nervous because I hadn't been training much lately but as I found out from several of the ladies I met, you don't have to do an insane amount of miles to train. But with my St George training under way, I didn't want to do too many miles and not be able to do my regular training runs coming up this week.

I stopped after 20 miles and went to my tent to get some sleep. I wanted to have energy to help push my friends through the tough hours in the middle of the night. I knew I wanted to help in the middle of the night but didn't want to annoy anyone, it gets depressing I'm sure at those hours. So I just walked next to my friend Michael and hoped to put positive thoughts in his head was my only goal. It was so hard to see him struggling. He's such an upbeat person and to see him struggling was so hard.

I walked 5 miles with Michael and then I ended up going back to my tent. I took a quick cat nap to hopefully have energy to help cheer on everyone who would be finishing up running the 24 hours. I went out the finish line around 6am and was completely blown away. I have never seen such pure determination. For one, Michael had gone from a painful walk to BOOKING it now! I was so worried after I went back to my tent. He was going through a hard spot mentally. I have felt the same way, only I was at mile 22 of a marathon...not 77 of 100! The thoughts of "what in the world am I doing?! This was the dumbest idea ever!" Seeing Michael with a smile on his face and looking good, I knew he had no problems what so ever with finishing!

My husband and I sat at the finish line, cheering everyone on. I was able to capture a beautiful couple as he finished his first 100 mile race on video. He is 67 years old. His wife stayed up all night cheering on not only him but everyone else running. When he finished, and before crossing the finish line, he picked up his wife in his arms and then ran across the finish line with her. It was such a beautiful thing. To see such joy and love was simply amazing. As the 24 hour mark rolled around, the timing folks kept telling those who had just hit their 100 miles to keep going. They had 30 minutes left. Go out and do more. 9 times out of 10, the runners went BACK out to get a few more laps in. As if 100 miles wasn't enough, they ended up doing 101-105. One guy finished out with 115 miles! He came in a minute or so before the clock hit 24 hours and so the timing folks tried to get him to go one more. He was so funny, he stood in front of the finish line until the clock hit exactly 24hours and 00 seconds and then crossed it. He was awesome!

After a while, my husband and I began to recognize faces and knew how many miles they had left. It was so fun to cheer on these strangers, knowing they only had 5 or 4 or even 1 mile left. My husband thought I was crazy but every time someone crossed the finish line for their 100th mile, I got choked up and cried. It was simply amazing!!

There was another girl who I was able to capture her finish for her as well on video. It seemed as if everyone running and a crew or friends to help them but this young lady was all alone. I noticed it after a few miles and so when she hit 99 miles, I decided I'd record her finish. After her finish, I walked up to her to ask for her email and got hit with some devastating news. She had a friend there earlier helping her but her friend's mother unexpectedly past away early that morning, so her friend had to pack up and leave. As she told me this she was crying and told me she had been crying the whole time since she heard the news. I felt horrible. Here this young lady was, doing something completely inspirational and then things just got harder. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to give her a big hug but I had just met her so I apologized and told her how much of an inspiration she was to me. This taught me a huge lesson. I had thought about waking a lap with her, because she just looked completely sad. It was different than the way the other runners looked. But I let fear get in the way. I felt silly going and walking with her. But it just goes to show, you never know what people are going through. What battles they are fighting. Maybe that person you see needs a smile, hug, or anything. Every time she came in for another mile, I cheered for her and told her something positive. I only wish I had done more, especially finding out about what happened with her friend earlier that morning. 

My friends I came to cheer on only had 3 or 4 miles left and were looking so strong. My one friend Leigh Anne looked at if she needed a friend to talk to. So I decided to not let her go alone like I did the previous girl I had just talked to, and so I ran to catch up to her. She was doing great but I felt inspired to talk to her. I tried to picture myself in her shoes and I would have loved company to distract my mind. I walked a little over a mile with her and then saw my other friend Michael. He had tears in his eyes. And soon as I saw him, I just knew he was on his last lap and so close to finishing. I then decided to go ahead and see if he wanted a friend to help him finish. We got to be about .6 of a mile from the finish and he started sprinting!! I was so amazed! This man had just run 99.4 miles and he was running so fast that I struggled to keep up with him! Haha Simply amazing! What a true inspiration! As we finished, I started to cry and got the goosebumps. It was one of the top 3 best moments for me of the whole event!

After finishing with Michael, I ran back out to find Leigh Anne. She was finishing mile 99. She mentioned to me that she wanted her whole family to walk the last lap with her. And they did just that.

I was able to capture some photos and a video of her family out on the last mile and as they finished. It was so awesome.

Part two coming soon!!