The ST. GEORGE MARATHON--October 2nd

What a fun opportunity to share this event with Briton & Robin and especially to spend time with Sydney and Clara. They were lots of fun and easy to care for. Here we are with Ed Eyestone, 2-time Olympian Marathon Runner (and brother to Mary Jo Naylor and son of Bob and Virginia Eyestone in our old 19th Ward), who was the keynote speaker on Friday afternoon. He told lots of fun and motivational stories from his running days. He has been the track coach at BYU for 10 years. We talked to him afterwards. Then we spent some time at the Expo checking out running stuff.

The stylin' rental car!!! Would you believe a Chevy HHR...wonder what that stands for?

We had our "pasta load" at Iggy's. Check out the size of that meatball!

Sydney enjoying her spaghetti. Grandma's Sicilian lasagna is in front.

Grandma and Sydney reading.

This is Briton's old ABC Golden Book. (There's a video at the end.)

The girls slept in our room. Sydney finally crashed at 12:30am!

We had to wake the girls up early on Saturday morning. It was a hard thing to do, especially when someone was enjoying sleeping with legs extended off the bottom of the bed.

Sleepy Clara.

Awake and ready to go after her 6oz. bottle.

Dad and I and the girls made it to Mile 16 at the north entrance to Snow Canyon where we intercepted runner 706 around 10:00am. Briton said a quick "Good Morning!"

He grabbed some treats...pretzels, crackers and blackberries...

And was on his way for the final 10 miles. His head is under the far rectangular sign! He was just too fast for the camera!

Grandpa with S & C in the stroller at Mile 16.

Grandma with the balloon (to catch Briton's attention).

Strollering back down to the car in beautiful Snow Canyon...at the non-steep part.

At last...the FINISH LINE!!!

The happy Marathoner...happy that it is all over. He comes bearing gifts of ice cream, peanuts, bread, yogurt, etc.

The Harold Abrams pose. He ran them off their feet in 3 hours and 21 minutes! How is that possible?

Sydney with an ice cream face checks out the medal.

Chillin' on the grass...I wonder if that unwatched ice cream sandwich is going to reach its target?

The runners' reunion! We're sad we didn't get to see Robin on the course, but she overestimated her time and was able to finish sooner than she thought--in 5 hours flat and didn't seem a bit "worse for wear." The 2010 version of the St. George Marathon had the hottest start time on record (in 34 years) and temps reached 98 degrees that day. The newspaper said that 16 people were taken to medical emergency at the hospital. Dad and I were hot and sweaty and all we did was walk around!

Robin and Briton reached their goals and finished in style. We're proud of them. Congratulations on a great Marathon! How bold (or insane) of you to choose to run 26.2 miles!!! Hard to fathom.

Back at the motel for a rest...well not for Clara.

Clara absolutely adored the balloon. It held her attention forever. (See video at the end.)

On Sunday, we decided to drive 30 minutes north to see Kolob Canyon. What a beautiful day.

Great views.

Robin & Chubby Legs. Grandpa got some great shots of Miss Clara in her red hat. I just had to post all 3 of the next photos.

#1 Proud of herself.

#2 Havin' a Good Time.

#3 Perfectly Pleased. Don't you just love this one? I start laughing everytime I look at it!

Getting the hat just right.

The Hillsboro Barkers in Kolob Canyon in Zion's National Park.

Going for a one-mile hike on the Timber Creek Trail.

Sydney, the conductor, on a big rock.

Baby in the Bjorn.

"Where in the world is Sydney San Diego?" She's hiding pretty well.

Actually, hiking wasn't a very good activity choice for the 2 marthoners. With aching quads, they were good sports to hobble up and down (especially hard) the trail. Sydney was a real trouper, too, taking lots of little steps before we stopped for a picnic lunch.

What scenery!

The lighter green band winding around the mountains is Timber Creek.

Pinon pinecones all along the trail.

We couldn't resist harvesting some pinenuts (if you look hard you can see some). Boy did they taste good and fresh. We had to find creative ways to try to clean the pine gum off our hands, but it was worth it.


Balloon Video:

Reading the ABC Book together: