Runnin' 13!
Several months ago I challenged my sister, Mary, to get off the couch and run a half-marathon with me. She didn't disappoint, even though she'd only trained up to a 3 mile run. I'm still amazed by that incidental fact.
The race (Drop 13) starts near Solitude up Big Cottonwood Canyon and we'd hatched an epic plan to stay the night before at the Silver Fork Lodge, just a few blocks form the starting line, thus avoiding ridiculously early wake up times, obnoxious busing up the canyon, and freezing at the starting line for hours. The night before we leisurely dined at on of our favorite restaurants, the Kathmandu, then ditched Mary's car at the finish line. From there, we put our things on our backs and walked a couple of miles to the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon and proceeded to hitch-hike up to the lodge. Give it up for the Cottonwood High School girl's basketball team for giving the ladies a ride. Three middle-aged women must have looked intimidating because it took us a solid 15 minutes to hitch a ride. (Or maybe it was just the human volume. Or maybe it was the time of day--the sun was going down by then.)
Anyway, our little sleepover was a blast and it was awesome to literally roll right out onto the course at a reasonable time in the morning. After burning down the canyon (and yes, Mary did run all 13 of those miles), we rode back up to Silver Fork to retrieve our stuff and enjoy a huge breakfast at the lodge. (Free with our stay. Yes!!)
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| The obligatory sweaty finish line pose--me, Mar, and friend Kory. |

When I saw Mary's medal, my heart swelled within me. Glorious accomplishment. I had to rethink my thinking and encompass more "can-do" ideas. I just said you women are an inspiration!
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