Scott has definitely caught the running bug this year. He had such a great time running Ragnar, that he decided if he was ever going to run a marathon, now was the time to do it since he was already in great running shape. So this weekend we headed to Logan for him to run the Top of Utah Marathon. Running 26.2 miles is challenging enough itself. Add in downpouring rain and hail for most of it, and you've got Scott's first (and very possibly last) marathon experience. As I sat in my car at mile 14 to cheer on Scott as he came out of the canyon I could hardly see out the window through all the rain despite my windshield wipers going at top speed. I felt so bad watching all the runners pass by SOAKING wet. I breathed a sigh of relief when the rain appeared to be letting up a little, but then it was just replaced by hail.
I took a picture from inside the car to try and capture the conditions. You can't see the hail that is pelting the runners, but you can see it all over the road. Shortly after that, Scott came running along and informed me his headphones had shorted out around mile 8 due to all the rain. I had an extra pair for him, but it wasn't long before they started shorting out, too. So he got to run the rest of the race with no music, but luckily he met some nice people along the way he was able to chat with.
The weather began to let up a little and by mile 23 it was sprinkling on and off. Scott was still running strong, but said his shoes were so water logged they felt like they weighed 10 pounds each.
The sun emerged from behind the clouds for the first time right as Scott crossed the finish line, but I think the smile on his face shone brighter. He said it was the absolute best feeling crossing that line and knowing he was done. Despite the difficult conditions (we heard people's times were about 20 minutes slower because of the rain), Scott still managed to finish in the incredible time of 4:15:34. I am so proud of him! He says this was a one time thing, but I'm still going to try and talk him into another marathon with me, hopefully in better weather conditions. Great job to my amazing marathon man!!