Top of Zion Relay

Our Van, excluding me, I was running. 

Back when we signed up for the Top of Zion relay, we knew full well that it was a week later after our half. Which we thought we would've been okay and not hurt because we have been training so long for it. We both we the most sore we have ever been in our lives the few days following and Kurt's achilles wasn't doing so well either. So we were nervous for the upcoming race. It started at Capitol Reef and ended in Zions, a total of 195 miles for 2 days. Since we were in the second van, we didn't have to be there until around 2 on Friday. We didn't know anyone except for the girl that put it together, which was in the other car. So we didn't know the 4 people in our car. The first car started at 8 that morning. We met up with them in Boulder Utah. I was the 3rd person to run and Kurt was the 5th. So we had a little bit of time stretch and get ready. My first leg was 6.5 miles. It wasn't too bad at first, but then it got hotter and hotter as the day went on I felt like. It was scorching hot and Kurt and I don't train in the sun because I work, so we run in the mornings before the sun is even out. I felt really good for the first half, but after that I died, the sun drained all my energy out. I had the longest run out of the whole van. I thought I was going to be dehydrated because it was so long and hot. But I finally made it. Kurt's first leg was only 5 miles, but still in the sun. Our van finished at 7 that night so we were all able to recuperate, rest, and eat some real food, not just snacks. A kid in the other car had a house in Escalante and we were able to get a few hours of sleep there. (Some of us at least)

Night Run

We had to be at the next exchange at midnight. It was cold and we were all still tired. I only had 5 miles for the night run, and started around 2 am. It was a lot less cooler and nicer to run. Kurt started his run at Hole in the Rock, it was kind of a bummer that it wasn't during the day so we could see it better and take pictures. He had 4 miles that night and he did so great! Our whole van was doing so good, given a couple of injuries and the hardness of some of the runs. We finished our legs that morning around 7 and were able to get lots of sleep. The first van's last legs were really short so they ran them super fast, we started our last leg around 10. Our total number of miles on our last leg all together was 36 miles, this was our longest set yet. I once again just had 5 miles, it was around noon, wasn't very hot yet, so that was nice. But it was on a dirt/sandy road that was very uneven and had lots of sand at some places. It was my least favorite run. It was not very pretty either. Kurt's run was 7 miles, on the stupid dirt road, mostly uphill. His achilles was hurting a little bit so he was nervous about it. He ran 4 miles and took a rest, so I ran a mile and another kid ran a mile and then Kurt finished his last mile. We were really lucky that his achilles didn't start killing him until the last leg.   He did awesome on his first legs, you wouldn't even had guessed he was hurting. While the one kid was running a mile for Kurt, he hurt himself and he was after Kurt. Luckily he only had 4 miles, I ran his second mile and another girl ran his 3rd, and then we had one more mile to go, which he wanted to finish.

The whole team finally done!

We finished around 4 that afternoon. We finished fourth overall and second in the men's division. We only had 3 girls so we were able to qualify for the mens team. We were so happy to be done. It was a lot of fun, we made new friends, had a good support system. But we wont do that again unless they move it to another time of year. It was super pretty at so many parts, but the sun was just deathly hot that if you were running, it was hard to enjoy it because you were too focused on not getting dehydrated and just making it to the end. We definitely will not have any long races until our marathon is over. Too much of a risk getting hurt and the recovery.

Our Wall of Fame

In Zion after the run.