Park City Half-Marathon

Trishell Merayo, Melissa Raymond

Well, I did it. Last weekend (August 21st) I completed my 2nd half-marathon of the summer... this time in beautiful Park City, Utah.

We met up with our friends the Merayos from Arizona (Trishell ran the race with me) and took the kids to Lagoon on Friday. Not sure that was such a great idea- walking around an amusement park all day the day before you're going to run 13.1 miles, but the kids had a good time. It was so crowded, though, that I really don't have any desire to return any time soon. I suppose we should have expected the crowds- it was afterall a Friday right before kids return to school; a local news station was running a 2 for 1 admission price deal, which saved us a lot of money, but I'm sure added to the masses of people. We stayed much later at Lagoon than we planned, because the kids hadn't been able to do very many rides due to the long lines. By 7:00 I was more than ready to hit the road and get to Park City. I wanted a decent meal and a good night's sleep for my race.

Cooper and Randall

Cooper and Jadee

Cooper and Chalee

Carson and Randall

Carson and ???

Chalee, Cooper, Braman, Jadee

Natalie and Lainee

Melissa
Unfortunately, Randall and Gordon promised to take Chalee and Cooper on the ferris wheel as the last ride of the night. Which would have been fine, but they didn't want to walk all the way over to the ferris wheel. So they convinced the kids that the Rock-o-Plane was the ferris wheel because it was so much closer. Then the line moved incredibly slow. Seriously, the line was not that long, but they waited for nearly an hour to get on the dumb thing. In the midst of the line-waiting, all the kids had to go to the bathroom, and there was a line into the women's bathroom as well- go figure. By the time Randall and Cooper were getting off the ride, I had had it. I was tired and ready to leave. It was nearly 9:00, we still hadn't eaten dinner, we had to drive 30 minutes Park City and check into our hotel and get the kids to bed.

Things can't get much worse, right? Wrong! It gets worse. Randall collapses as he gets off the ride. He is sick... oh, so very sick. Cooper had convinced him to spin the cage repeatedly- not smart. Cooper thought it was great fun and was just fine. Randall, on the other hand, was pale as a ghost and couldn't even stand up. We waited while he stumbled to the bathroom, then proceeded to the picnic area to get the rest of our belongings. By the time we got to KiddieLand, Randall was puking in the garbage can. Thanks to the "Raymond ralph" (as Randall's uncle Nyle termed the unusually loud sound that escapes the Raymond men while they are vomiting), we had many observers and disgusted looks. Trishell and I decided to get the kids to the car and leave Gordon and Randall behind with Braman and Jadee to collect the coolers. By the time Randall got to the car he still wasn't feeling better. So, Trishell rode with me, and Randall rode with Gordon. Poor Gordon had to stop 3 times so Randall could vomit on the side of the road. Meanwhile Trishell and I had picked up Wendy's hamburgers for the kids and checked into the hotel. When I came out of the hotel to park the car, Gordon had finally arrived and Randall was once again in the bushes. By this time I wasn't upset anymore, I was much more concerned about my husband. I walked over to Randall to see if I could get him upstairs to the room and he had pretty much passed out and was making strange noises while laying on the ground. I called out his name 3 times before he responded. I was seriously starting to freak out! Gordon parked the cars while I helped Randall up to the room. I'm sure the hotel lobby attendants thought Randall was drunk the way he was stumbling around and leaning on his wife to walk- boy am I glad I don't have to ever deal with a drunk husband! By the time we got up to the room Randall was shaking. I decided that if he wasn't showing signs of improvement within 30 minutes I was taking him to the hospital. I am so grateful Gordon and Trishell were there with us. They got the kids and our suitcases upstairs for me, and poor Trishell had to eat a late dinner with me. I was beginning to have doubts about my ability to run the next morning. By this time it was 11:00 pm. After sitting in the bath tub for an hour, Randall's condition started to improve. He wasn't shaking anymore, he could stand up on his own, and we promptly fell asleep. I was still worried about the race. I couldn't leave a sick husband with my kids while I ran! So, I said a prayer, and finally crawled into bed at 12:30 am.

At 5:15 am I woke up to get ready for the race. I woke Randall up to make sure he was feeling okay- which he was- thank goodness- and Trishell and I left to go pick up our race packets. It was a beautiful morning in Park City. The race started at 6:45 am. The first 7+ miles were slightly uphill. That turned out to be a little harder than I had anticipated. We made the first 3 miles in pretty good time- just over 9 minutes per mile. But by mile 4 our pace had slowed considerably. The race was an up and back format, except the turn around wasn't at mile 6.5 like you would expect. It wasn't until mile 7.5. Thankfully I had Trishell running with me to keep me going. The rest of the race was slightly downhill, with a few uphill climbs. The finish line was hidden behind a bend in the path, and you couldn't see it or hear the announcer until you were pretty much there. But boy oh boy was I glad to see my husband and kids there cheering me on! My time wasn't quite what I had hoped... 2:14.07. Some 10 minutes slower than my Boise race. But, the course was harder and considering the night I had before, I was incredibly grateful just to have finished it. And, my knee didn't bother me at all, which in and of itself I consider and incredible accomplishment with the hilly terrain- it wasn't until about 6 weeks before the race that I was able to run more than 5 miles without it aching.

Headed to the finish line!

The kids and I

Two mommas with their kids

My hubby was proud of me!


And... I have another excuse... it's a good one. A mother of 3 with one on the way shouldn't be expected to have a personal best. That's right- I ran the Park City Half-Marathon 15 1/2 weeks pregnant. Randall and I are excited to welcome our 4th child sometime early February. The kids are convinced this baby is another girl. I guess we'll see if they are right in a few weeks!