Wasatch Back Relay

There are many crazy people in the world and I think runners are some of these people. I was invited by my high-school friend Erin to join her team to run in the Ragnar Wasatch Back. It is an all day, all night crazy race from Logan to Park City. It was amazing. It was a type of crazy that brought me sanity. I loved it.

Our team: T.N.T. We're Dynamite

James, Michelle, Leslie, Erin, Marie, Kaerlig, Meghan, Alec

Jamie, Kiyo, Tom, Stephanie

This is Alec, a 17 year old kid who started our race for us at a super fast pace. He did so well.

I don't know these people...just wanted to snap a picture of them.

This is me on my first run. It was an absolutely gorgeous day (days that have been few and far between this rainy summer) and I felt strong. I had been worried about some knee problems I've had but somehow, I was able to run without pain during the relay and kept a steady 7.5 minute mile pace for the 17 miles (total) that I ran.
Erin did the work to organize the team and then became injured just a week before the relay. Being somewhat crazy (as runners are), she ran her first two legs strong, even though she was in pain, but then had to call it quits before she did any permanent damage.

Here we are at the top of Avon Pass waiting for James who was lucky enough to get to run the steep, dusty climb to the top.

As evening came, our group started our 2nd leg of the race. We started at Snow Basin and ran down through the night. We tried to sleep for a couple hours on the floor of a high school auditorium when we finished but that was a joke.


By morning we were starting our 3rd leg of the race. I'm standing in line to use a wonderful but dangerously full "Honey Bucket" port-a-potty. Hey, I'm just glad they were there.

This is me at the beginning of my 3rd leg.

When it was Erin's turn to run, she sorrowfully decided it wouldn't be wise to run on her foot anymore. She could barely walk as it was. I ran her last leg for her and it was the highlight of the race for me because it was a beautiful downhill descent into the valley. I'm bummed she didn't get to enjoy it....




Our team finished the race in 29.5 hours, just before a torrential downpour passed through Park City. It was a memorable experience and I'm glad I was a part of the team. We finished the race a couple hours before we thought we would and were all pretty proud about it.

Meanwhile at home, Dave was left in charge of the kids and somehow they found a stray kitten. David, being the tender heart that he is, decided to take in the starving kitten and I'm thinking we are going to have major issues if/when we try to find a different home for this cat. I never wanted a pet cat. And both David and Little D are allergic to cats. And the kids keep fighting over who gets to hold her.

See what happens when mom is out of town for a couple days?