“It’s so easy a caveman could do it.”
Whoever said that has never run a half marathon. Although I would never say it was easy, I would say it is definitely worth it!
This past weekend I had the opportunity to run in the Cedar City Half Marathon. The race started about eleven miles up Cedar Canyon. All runners met at the Bicentennial Fields at the crack of dawn. Actually, it was before the crack of dawn at 5:30 a.m.
Thousands of us runners lined up to get onto the buses that would drive us to our fate. Once we reached the starting line, I had about an hour to wait until the race began. The lines for the porta-potties were long and the space around the fires was filled.
As I got ready to begin the race, I reflected on my journey. You see, this was actually the third half marathon I had run. But even though I knew what to expect, I still couldn’t calm my nerves or my excitement.
I signed up for this half marathon only a few weeks before the actual race, so my training was rushed to say the least. A word of advice from the wise, don’t do what I did. Give yourself at least three months to train for a half marathon. Your body will thank you!
Once it was time for the race to begin, I realized a problem very fast: I had no service. I wasn’t trying to get on Instagram or Twitter, I was trying to play my half marathon playlist on Spotify which was not downloaded.
Thankfully, for a few minutes, I was able to get enough service to download five songs. And so for the first six miles of my run, I listened to those five songs on repeat. Needless to say, those songs have now been deleted from that playlist.
I didn’t mind my repetitive playlist though because the run was so beautiful. Looking at all the red rocks and the surrounding nature helped me take my focus off of the fact I was running down a canyon for fun. I can say that out of all the half marathons I have run, this was the most enjoyable run I had done.
The best part was that I was had my personal best time of 2:01! I was also in the top 33% of the runners.
Even though I am now sore and it hurts to go upstairs, I wouldn’t change my run through the beautiful Cedar Canyon for anything.
If you have ever been interested in running a half marathon, it’s never too late to try. If you have never run a race before, start out small with a 5K and work your way up. Click here to start working towards a half marathon today.
Story By: Cassidy Harmon
eic@suunews.net
Photos Provided By: Cassidy Harmon
