I ran the Utah Valley Marathon on Saturday with 3 friends of mine. Pictured left to right are Becky, Suzanne, Christa (me!) and Marci. Our finishing times ranged from 3 1/2 hours (speedy Marci) to just over 5 hours (slow me).

I ran about an hour slower than my first marathon in 2009 because of a recurring problem with plantar fasciitis. (Not fun!)

However, we all had a great time doing it and we all met our running goals.

It took weeks and weeks of training to build up our distance, with harder workouts thrown in mid-week to build our endurance. At about mile 20 I thought, why the heck am I doing this?? But then at the finish (26.2 miles later) I had the answer: because I can!

Here are some pictures during the race:Jason and the kids met me at mile 20 to give me a high 5. I needed the support by then!

Here’s me at the home stretch. That finish line never looked so good! I am so glad I did this race. I am sore, but not injured and now I can look forward to much shorter workouts (and more time for sewing!!)