SOJO 2010

Ronny just after mile 10

Mile 14

Ronny's cheering squad. They enjoyed munching on peaches and nectarines while we waited for him to run by.

Roger from Portland. He was a very entertaining runner and the kids cheered him on all the way to the finish.

Ronny at the finish feeling all 26 miles now. He says he is a big believer in KT tape . (Green tape on his knees)

Ronny's blisters, he insisted I take a picture.
(Just another reason why I will never run a marathon!)

Ronny with his division certificate, he apparently will get a nice plaque in the mail with a picture of him running the race.

The first annual South Jordan marathon was run yesterday. Our good friend Dr. Luce was one of the initial sponsors and begged Ronny to run. Of course Ronny jumped in with two feet, literally! The race sold out with 97 marathon runners and over 500 half marathon runners not to mention all those who ran the 5k and the children's race. The marathon ran right by the temple and through our neighborhood.

The night before the race we watched Dr. Luce's kids while he taped and treated runners at the check-in. Afterwards he stopped by his office to pick up more tape to tape Ronny at home and discovered his office had been broken into. After the police finished up their report he still came over to tape Ronny. It was a late night for them but Ronny sure appreciated his willingness to tape his knees. He said they didn't hurt at all during the race.

Just after 9:00 a.m. the kids and I went down to cheer him on. We saw him pass by in front of the temple and then decided we were having so much fun we jumped in the car and drove ahead and cheered him on again. We ended up doing this all the way to the finish. The kids had a great time and we met some fun people along the way. They also enjoyed the treats from the gas station and from the farm that we hit up during our journey. One of the runners that was near Ron most of the way stopped and requested a picture with the kids as he appreciated all their cheers for the last 16 miles. We found out he had fl0wn in from Portland to run the race and catch the BYU game. (We won't talk about that much).

We made it to the finish line with only minutes to spare to cheer Ronny in. He did great with his time being 3:42. Not a Boston qualifier but he wasn't shooting for that this year he says. It was however good enough to be #1 place in his age group. It helps to be 35 in the 35-40 age group! This gets him a free admission into the race next year. I'm all for that as the admission fee is steep! (I still don't get why you would pay so much money for someone to let you run 26.2 miles!)

We were pleasantly surprised at the finish line with lunch sandwiches from Chick Fil A, fruit, ice cream bars, nuts, frozen yogurt, and water bottles for all those cheering loved ones on. The racers were treated with free massages, chiropractic adjustments and lots of food and water. Ben went right up to one of the massage therapists and asked if he could be next, it was hilarious! It was a great day, way to go Ronny!