Pat's Run

As I mentioned before, Jeremy and I have been working so hard running three times a week to prepare for the Pat Tillman Run. As race day approached I became more and more nervous and wondered what I had gotten myself into. Jeremy was excited and I tried to be as excited as he was.

This past Saturday was race day. We had to be up at 5:45am to be out the door by 6. Grandpa and Lollie came over to stay with Merrick so he would not have to be up so early. We headed out and took the light rail to downtown Tempe. Merrick woke up soon after and they headed down to meet us.

The race started just after 7 and by the time we got there some racers had already started. In fact, the fastest runners (like the ones who finished the 4.2 miles in 20 mins.) were already done before we started. There were 28,000 runners and it was the largest timed race in Arizona history. We somehow got caught up in some of the racers starting and ended up starting before the group we were supposed to run with, but the pace was good and I think we actually started with a good group for us.

The course wrapped through downtown Tempe and over Tempe Town Lake. There were a few more hills than I would have hoped for, but it was a nice day and it was amazing to see the sea of people both ahead and behind us. I said from the time we decided to do this that I did not expect myself to run the entire thing, but that I did want to run at least 3 miles. We did stop to walk a few times, but figured that we ran about 3.5 miles.

In the end I was pleased with how much we ran, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed myself, and more than anything I am surprised that I want to do it again.

Pre-race


Riding the light rail and waiting




Finish line and post-race