I Survived the Wasatch Back

It was questionable there for a minute! That was one of the funnest things I have ever done. It was also the hardest. If I were to choose out of the two, I would pick a half marathon every time because of how hard the Back was.
Our team started Friday morning at 9:20. From the start, the race officials predicted that we would finish Saturday night around 5:00.
I was in van 2, which is runners 7-12. We should have started running around 3:43 which would have put my first leg at about 4:22. Our first van busted it out and we started running at 1:30. I was on the road at 2:15. It was only 3.4 miles but it was tough because of the heat. It was 87 degrees with no shade. But I was still at a 10 minute mile even in the heat so I was happy. Our van rocked the house! We had some great runners.
My next run was 7 miles at midnight. This was the best run I have ever had. I decided I love to run in the dark. It was cool and peaceful and even though there were other runners on the road, we were pretty spread out and you just kept to yourself. The only bad thing about this run is that you are pretty sweaty when you finish so sitting in the van afterward, you start freezing to death because you are wet.
My next run started at 9:30 Saturday morning. Mind you, we have all only gotten about an hour of broken sleep. When I ate breakfast at 7:30, it didn't sit well. I wasn't too happy about that. My last run was 6.1 miles, slight up hill most of the way. By mile 2, I was struggling. I had a stitch in my side, I was exhausted and my stomach was a huge knot. Mile 3, I stopped and threw up twice in an irrigation ditch in front of a farmer and his family in Midway, Ut. At this point, I so wanted to quit. It was so hot even at that time of the morning and I was seeing spots. Ross (who was our amazing driver and husband extraordinaire) and the van stopped to give me some water and I started to cry because I knew I had 3 miles left and I just wanted to quit. But I didn't. The next 3 miles, I alternated walking and running just so I could make it through. I was so happy when I finished that leg that I just sat on some grass and cried.
The good news: I was not the only one of my team who had to throw up in the middle of my final run. A cute girl named Bree who is 19 and a totally awesome runner did too. That made me feel a little better about it!
My team crossed the finish line at 2:15 Saturday afternoon, two hours and 45 minutes before they thought we would. Our whole team averaged a 9 1/2 minute mile through out the race. I, personally, think we rocked the house.
This race is great. You have all kinds of people who sign up to do this. Elite runners, beginning runners, all sorts. 90% of the runners end up walking part of the really difficult parts. The commaraderie(?) is amazing. Everyone is there helping everyone else push through those demons that you get from being mentally and physically exhausted. You go beyond what you think you can do. It's amazing.
I would recommend anyone and everyone to do this race at least once. It's freaking hard but so worth the effort and bragging rights. If you don't think you can do it, call me. I have asthma, which means I am usually the weakest link. And there was a girl that ran this race with the 2nd hardest set of legs to run that was BLIND. So just try and tell me you can't do it.