I finished

The Grand Teton Races 50 is done! Although I didn't finish as fast as I would have liked, I did finish. Because the top 3 women in my age group were the top 3 women finishers in the race, I won an age group plaque!! My time was 12:37:16. I finished 24th out of 33 starters. The race was 50 miles with nearly 10,000 feet of vertical elevation gain. The race started at about 8,000 feet, went up as high as 9,600 feet and down as low as 6,200 feet.

THANKS

It was great to have the support of my family and friends for the entire race and for all of the preparation. Thanks to Paul for putting up with me for the last 9 months of training, travel and race related expenses. Thanks also for taking pictures and being part of my cheering section! Thanks to Zane for doing some photography and for coming to the prerace meeting and to the race. Thanks for the shoulder rubs in the aid stations! A big thank you to Allison and Dave for throwing me a party with yummy food, for getting up incredibly early to cheer me on and for coming back to get me through the last 5 miles and cheering me through the end. Thanks for the margarita!! Thanks to Colleen for making me believe I could do this race in the first place and Colleen, you deserve a big thank you for cleaning off my painful feet at the end of the race! Lisa and Jay, thank you for putting on such a fantastic race with so much support and encouragement for everyone. You guys make everyone feel like a super star!!!

PICTURES

Race Check-In with the scepter

The day before the race, practicing the finish

Checking out the awesome goodie bag, see my tiara?

Pre race preparation, aid station bags and food for Paul and Zane

High sodium gels marked with the time I was supposed to take them and meds attached

Pre race party at A & Ds the night before the race. We carbo loaded.

Colleen and Dusty at check-in race morning. See my Tink bag? That's from Linda the Marathon Maniac! Thanks Linda. Allison gave me the cool streamer! Colleen and I met at this race 1 year ago. It's our 1st anniversary.

Allison at no o'clock in the morning. She brought balloons for me!

11 miles down, 39 to go.
Allison, Zane, Paul (taking the picture) and Dave (hidden behind Z & A) cheering me on, thanks guys!! Those beautiful Tetons in the background.

14 miles down 36 to go.
Allison and Zane (on my right) an awesome aid station guy on my left asking me what I needed. The aid station people were specatcular. They made me feel like I was a pro and filled water, got bags, gave me candy, gave me an icy leg rub. Heck, the Race Director, Lisa Smith-Batchen gave me a leg rub too. How cool is that for the Race Director to be so involved?! Lisa is going to run across the United States in April of 2008, click the link if you want to read more.

20 miles down, 30 to go.

25 miles down, 25 miles to go. "Highway to Hell" came on my iPod, how appropriate. This section was 1,800 feet of vertical elevation gain in 2.8 miles. Going down was nearly as bad as going up.

Trying not to cry. Zane in the background. 36 miles done and 14 miles to go. Mike's parents were the crew at this aid station and they were great! Thanks to Mike's dad for making Paul put sunscreen on me.

Zane and Allison cheering me on at 45 miles down and 5 to go. I had run out of water and I wasn't too happy. I wanted to quit badly but knew I'd be really mad at myself if I did quit with only 5 miles to go.

45 miles with Allison and Zane cheering in the background.

Coming through the finish line tired but happy. See the streamers Allison was waving? Pretty!

Relief at the finish line!

The NADF Banner was displayed all day.

One of many huge blisters.