On October 24, 2015 we ran the Haunted Half Marathon in Salt Lake. I did the Provo Haunted Half last year, and I do have to say that I enjoyed the Salt Lake race more than the Provo version. Packet pickup was seamless, and Winnie and I had a little bit of fun with the photo board at pickup.
Buses loaded for this race between 6-7am, which was a nice break from the 4-5am loading of some other races. The Haunted Half has a later start time due to the time of year, and I have no objections to that as it lets me get a few extra precious minutes of sleep. Winnie and I got to the bus loading around 6:45am and were able to get right on a bus to go to the start area. About 2 minutes into the bus ride, I realized I forgot my ipod and headphones. That was a bummer, but I knew I would be running with Winnie most of the race, so I wasn't too upset over it. There were worse things that could have been forgotten.
Lacy was supposed to run this half with us as well, but her daughter was up sick most of the night before, and she made the tough call not to run this one. It's so hard to decide not to do a race, but I think it's the smart thing to do when you know that you aren't physically up for the challenges of a half marathon, and knowing that the energy probably isn't there to get you through it. It's better to not run than to risk getting injured. We definitely missed her at this one!
Once we got to the start area, we had plenty of time to eat something, use the honey buckets, and stand around shivering. At least the views were spectacular! Sunrise at the top of Emigration Canyon did not disappoint.
And there was also good company to keep us entertained and warm. I'm so happy Mariah found us and came to say hi!
Finally 8:45 rolled around and it was time to start running! The downhill portion of the race was great, and we rolled through the miles. Winnie, Brittany, Kollin, and I stayed together for about the first 4 miles or so until bathroom breaks split us up. I did find this great photo of Brittany and Kollin in the race's photo bank. You can't see Kollin's onesie, but he was dressed as a Storm Trooper. And I love Brittany's mermaid!
I think we averaged about 10:30/mile for the first 9 miles. After that when the terrain leveled out and we started winding through the neighborhoods, my legs started getting tired, and Winnie ran ahead of me to keep a pace that felt good to her. Winnie ended up finishing 10-12 minutes ahead of me. I was getting so hot in my Packers getup in those last few miles that the finish line was a welcome sight if only to be able to get out of the sun and slow down.
Here's Winnie coming through the finish.
And me a little bit later.
I am so glad that I got to run this half with Winnie. I have missed her so much since they moved to Oregon several years ago, but am glad that we get to see them every so often when they come to visit or when we go to Corvallis to see them.
And finally, here is a picture of the whole crew at the finish line, pizza and all. Huge kudos to Brittany for this one as her daughter, Summit, was born just three and a half months prior to this half. She's kind of a rock star in my eyes.
Thanks for a great day everyone, and hope to see you at this race again in 2016!
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