Once Upon a Marathon

Once upon a time there was a boy named Joseph. After he was married, his wife asked if he wanted to run with her. He replied that running was not his thing, and it actually gave him shin splints, so even though he loved her very, very much, he would encourage her to run, but not join her. Somehow, through a miracle, the gift of an awesome new GPS device, and some new running shoes, he began to run. He'd run with her, and without her. He was dedicated and he actually enjoyed it. They went to lunch with some friends in December, where Joseph and Ryan decided they should run a marathon. Since saying you'll do it "someday" doesn't make things happen, they decided they would run it in 9 months. The St. George Marathon.


Joseph started training and ran a half marathon with his wife in June (see above photo). They then continued training in the hot Phoenix sun, which proved to be too much for Laura, so he was forced to train alone. He stuck to his schedule and persevered. Eventually they moved back to UT where he could train in cooler weather but with many hills.

Finally the day of the Marathon came. Family and friends were there to run. It rained, and rained, and rained; and they ran, and ran, and ran. These are some pictures from the big race.

Randy ran way too fast for the camera to keep him in focus. He ran so fast that he qualified for the Boston Marathon. Congrats Randy!


Stacy completed her 12th Marathon (and if I remember right, this is the only one it has rained for). Way to go Stacy!

Joseph ran with his friends Ryan and Ben. He kept them running through the whole thing, and they made it to the finish together. (Joseph is the only blury one in the picture, I think that's because he's moving so much faster than his friends. Ü )

Here they are running to the finish line. It's just a few feet beyond this picture. Look at how dark and rainy it was! They are such troopers!


Finished at last! 26.2 miles of running in the rain was celebrated with complementary treats of fruit, bread, and ice cream!

Then we went to Outback to celebrate their victory. Joseph's mom and sister came to watch the marathon and so did Ryan's brother. It was a fun trip, and the guys finished in 4 hours and 28 minutes. Congratulations boys!

The End.