GO BIG!

Big Cottonwood marathon and 1/2 marathon 

Running the 1/2 with 2 of the most amazing ladies you'll ever meet...Leesa Jones and Tamara Bell

We had a blast running together...these ladies know how to keep you entertained!

 

 

 

Leesa paced me the whole way motivating me to keep going strong!
It felt so great to get a PR by 6 minutes!
It was an awesome, fast race! 

Now for Matt's marathon...
Matt was on a mission; a SUB 3 hour mission that is ;)

 

 

I LOVE watching Matt run...he looks the same at the end of the race as he did at the beginning!
Finishing with a 2:56!!
9th place overall, 8th place men and 3rd place age division...oh and a PR by 13 minutes!!!!!
I couldn't stop yelling and cheering...It was SO EXCITING!!

Our brother in law, Lou,  ran his first marathon and was on track to qualify for Boston until his legs decided differently at mile 22. Lou didn't stop, his determination and pure grit got him through the next hour and 4 miles. I found him at the last .25 of the race. He looked at me and said "I hit the wall, and it fell on me!" As we turned the corner, his legs completely collapsed. I picked him up and started helping  him make it to the finish line as another runner came from behind with a big smile and said, "Let's finish this together!" and so that's what we did! 

It was  surreal experience to watch Lou push through something so incredibly difficult and NOT GIVE UP!! He has already signed up for his next marathon and is so grateful for the lessons he learned at this one.  PURE AWESOMENESS!

 

I can't tell you how much fun it is to run with Matt...even if I can't keep up with him ;) Having similar goals and working towards races has been a great activity to do together! He is such an inspiration to me of making goals, working hard and accomplishing them!!!
I sure love my SUB 3 man ;)

Tommy Boy

Here's a few race favorites...
 

 

 

 

True happiness comes when you conquer your fears and give it EVERYTHING you've got!! 

 

 

 A great start Tommy Boy
Way to go!

Whatever it takes...

When all else fails, you run in the craziest outfit you can think of and...

 

Drink lots and lots of wheatgrass! mmmm....
Jac's comin' back :)

XC TIME!!!

Jac and Thomas, FINALLY on the SAME team!

Can you feel their excitement?! 

Thomas ran a strong first race

 

 

Jac was ready to begin the season!

She's got the fire! 

Jac had a decent race...she wasn't happy with it, something felt 'off'...a week later we took her to the doctor. She has mono AGAIN! :( No more racing for this girl for a while...

 

 

 Lehi XC 2013

The Oldest....

 Thomas...9th grade 
Oldest in Junior high!
Passed up his Dad in height this Summer
SUPER excited to be on the highschool XC and Track team! 

Emily 6th Grade

Oldest in Elementary School

LOVED summer break and playing with friends

Not too excited for school to start (can you tell?)

Update...she LOVES it :) Miracles do still happen!

Jac and some of her 1st period buddies...yep, they get to run for their first class!
Emily Anderson, Maddi Kauffman and Emily Allen for a few more days before heading off to BYU!

Jac SENIOR
Oldest in High School
Loved working at Runners Corner and hanging out with friends
SUPER excited for her last year of high school (Mom and Dad, not so much!)

celebrating 50 years

Our Whiting Family reunion started off with a bang...

Celebrating Grandma and Grandpa's 50th!

Nicki painted this AMAZING portrait from the pictures in my previous post. She is only 17 years old! She captured them perfectly!

 

Most of the Whiting clan

 

 

My favorite are the candid moments...

Day 2...City Creek and Park City

Nope, we didn't fit everyone!

Olympic Park

Justin had and amazing 62 seconds in the bobsled...and Jac and Jake don't quite measure up to Trisha's tummy :)

DAY 3....Park City Marathon and 1/2 Marathon!
Jake wanted to get a marathon in before his mission...Yea, he pretty much ROCKED IT!
The rest of us did "1/2 of the race" ;)
Lou took 3rd, and Jake and I took 2nd in our age divisions (Matt paced me!)

Thomas ran with Jake the last 6 miles...we thought he would need some moral support...I don't think he ever hit "the wall"!

Jac and Matt ran with me and it nearly killed them to go such an easy pace...it nearly killed me to go that pace!

Game time!!

Pool time!

Grandpa's FAVORITE...Phase 10!