A Family Affair

I have been really looking forward to Labor Day weekend. My oldest brother, Dan, lives in Pocatello and he and his wife, Shaleece, had invited us to come up there and join in the fun of the Pocatello Marathon weekend. So we packed the Uplander and headed for Poky. None of us attempted the marathon or even the ½, but we did have entries in the 10K, 1.5 miles, and the .2 mile.

This weekend was to be a first for all of us. It was my brother’s 1st race. It was Shaleece’s and my 1st 10K. I was finally going to get to run with my kids. And my nieces and nephew were participating in the races for the first time too.


It was a really fun race. Lots of support, aide stations, and freebies! It was also my hardest, from both the physical and mental aspect. I had experienced some IT band irritation last week. If you don’t know what IT band irritation is, it basically, means I could hardly walk after running. I wondered if I should even attempt to run the race or try selling my bib number. I was sick. I wanted to run this race so badly! I saw my Dr. who gave me specific stretches for the IT band and also suggested I see a chiropractor. Turns out I was out of alignment. So after 2 hrs of being snapped, crackled, and popped back into shape and given instructions how to roll myself on a $38 foam roller, I was declared fit to race!


The morning of the race I stretched and rolled myself before heading down to the pickup spot to ride the bus to the start line. I had butterflies in my stomach. It seemed like that bus ride took forever and went too far. I kept thinking “I hope they know we’re only doing the 10K and not the 1/2.” I was relieved when the bus made a loop and headed back towards town.



We arrived at the starting line with about 10 minutes to spare. 124 race participants, 2 porta-potties, and 10 minutes…. I decided I would just have to hold it. It is usually just nerves anyways. I was concerned about my leg more, so I spent the time stretching. I told Dan and Shaleece, that I was just going to take it easy and just try to finish in under an hour. I knew I could easily do that, but secretly I wanted to finish in less than 55 minutes.


The gun sounded and we were off.

Dan was like white lightning and I easily lost sight of him. Shaleece kept turning around to see if I was ok. I told her, “Just go. I’m taking it easy.”

It was easy and I felt great, until mile 2. That’s when I felt that familiar painful twinge on the outside of my knee. All worries about my bladder situation disappeared and I knew I had a different problem to worry about. On top of that, I needed to slow down even more. UGH! I kept trying to think about the positive things, like “At least, you made up the hill before it started.” But the negative kept pushing its way into my head. I was struggling….more mentally than physically. I grabbed my cell phone and called Richard. I was probably the only runner on the course talking on a cell phone while they were still running, but it was the only thing I could think of to do.

Richard answered and asked me why I was calling him when I was supposed to be running a race. I stated that I was running, but the twinge in my knee was back. That’s when I started to cry. I wasn’t in a lot of pain, I knew that, along with the stiffness, would come later.

I told him, “I was scared.” I was scared I wouldn’t be able to finish the race. I was scared I would always have this problem whenever I ran. I was afraid I would lose the newfound friend I had in running.

It felt good just to admit it.

I told him, “Just talk to me.” So he did.

I can’t really tell you what he said, it was just that calm, friendly, reassuring voice on the other end of the line that settled my nerves, calmed my fears.

So I kept running and at mile 3.5 the twinge stopped. I passed the wall and I could finally run the way the rest of my body wanted to. I called Richard again and told him not to worry. I was ok. He told me he was there and waiting for me. Eventually, I saw the finish line ahead and pushed it hard. And there he was right before the finish line. The man with the voice on the other end of the line, smiling and taking pictures, along with the 7 children he was put in charge of getting to the race bright and early. I crossed the line at 56:54.

I had made it.

I was victorious. WE were victorious. I couldn’t have done it without him. Not just that day, but everyday he stays with the kids while I train or race. I wish I could have given him even just an ounce of the satisfaction I was feeling. He deserved it too. I hope he knows just how much all he does means to me.

I hadn’t made my secret goal of finishing in less than 55 minutes, but I did better than I thought and even placed 3rd in my age group. Dan and Shaleece were the stars of the day each taking 1st place in their age division. Dan even placed 10th for the whole 10K, pretty good for his 1st race!

We then hurried the kids to their races. Dallin, Benjamin (along with Daddy), Aubrie, and Maysa, all ran the 0.2 and had a great time. Dallin even placed 4th and Maysa found her competitive spirit when other kids would try to pass her she wouldn’t have it and sped up. It was fun to see all their little personalities and how they reacted during and after the race.

Next, Ashton and my nephew, Hayden, ran in the 1.5 mile Fun-a-thon. They started and in no time, Hayden was loping across the finish line taking 1st for the race and boys division. I think he had a stride and a half against the rest of the racers. It pays to be tall with long legs… a feeling I’ll never know. Ashton followed about 3 minutes later taking 3rd in the boys division. He got slowed down by a wood chip that had stowed itself away in his shoe from the playground only to be jostled lose when he started to run. Poor guy had a sore toe, but kept on truckin!

I was so proud of all of us! And like I said, it was a really fun race. Plus, it's the only race that I know of, that when you pick up your race packet and duffle bag of goodies they also give you….a bag of Idaho potatoes! What else?