I started training in early May, so I’ve been training for two months. But before that? Well, I decided to run this half-marathon about a year ago thanks to my good friend Charlie Brown (ok yeah, you caught me, his real name isn’t Charlie Brown, that’s just what I call him). And before that? I ran cross country through middle school and high school. Most of my friends thought I was insane for doing that – I voluntarily competed in a 4k one to two times per week during the first two months of school, not to mention training runs that could be as long as 5 miles or 60 minutes. Now that I’ve ran a whole 13.1 miles in two hours and twenty minutes that doesn’t sound so long to me anymore, but in high school it was a big deal. It was hard and it was hot and sometimes I hated it. So why did I stay on the team? To stay fit partly. But I could have chosen volleyball or basketball or even made a big fuss and joined the football team if I really wanted to. Why is running my sport?

Well there’s the process of elimination reasoning, but there’s also the fact that I genuinely enjoy running. I trace it all back to when I was about six years old and went to an after-school track and field camp. I don’t know how I ended up there, I just know that the high school track team was showing a bunch of us elementary school kids around and introducing us to the different field events. Then a few of the high-school girls rounded up those of us who wanted to see the cross country course. I was hooked immediately, it was just like going for a hike, but with a little running mixed in. I remember talking my mom into driving me back to the high school later that week just so that I could run the Estacada cross country course one more time.

So really, I’ve been planning on being a runner for 14 years now. And I’ve finally worked my way up to a half-marathon. Soon it’ll be full marathons, and even ultra-marathons!

So, I got 1075th place. Sounds really bad when I’m used to racing against 50-100 people tops, but there were actually 1799 runners, so it’s actually decent. And better yet, I met my goal! The goal was to run the half marathon in two and a half hours or less, and I did it in two hours and twenty minutes! And look at the super snazzy swag I got – fancy and actually heavy medal, plus a moisture-wicking t-shirt. Not to mention the strawberry shortcake and hot dog at the end of the race. I spent $74.80, but what with the swag and the experience, totally worth it.