Sunday, June 27, 2010

Dead Caterpillars and a Gnome Named George

We did it! The Faithful Soles have walked again! We completed the Slacker Half-Marathon! 13.1 miles, baby! In a row! In the elevation of Colorado! BOOYA! We were blessed with amazing weather, great company along the route, and the strength to complete the race! AMEN to that!

Haven't I said before that the day should never begin with the number 4!?!? Yeah, well THAT wasn't happening! I actually LEFT my home at 4:30 am, drove over to Lakewood (45 mins away) to pick up my pedometer (grrr for leaving it behind the night before) and met the team at o'dark thirty (5:30 am). At least the heavens were beautiful!

Happy crew on the bus ride to the start line!
Sue Ann, Ron, Mark, and the Palm Cross!

Booya, Faithful Soles! We need to figure out a way to
photoshop our teammate Traci into this pic...

Views like this make you forget the day began at 4:00 am.
Sort of.

Sue Ann and Sherrie, ready to go.
Such coordination of outfits.

Ready, set, GO!

Okay, quick review: this was called the SLACKER half-marathon, because it advertised it was downhill. Let us all take a moment to look at the teeeeeny tiny highway faaaaar below and the incline of the HILL we just climbed. SLACKER!?? I think not.

RTG and Mark, leading the pack! Note the funny little dead caterpillars along the side of the road. I'm sure they served a good purpose (something for run-off, rocks, etc.) but they still look like little caterpillars with their legs sticking up in the air. They do.

Have I mentioned how wonderful
it is to live in COLORADO!?

HA! I am actually OFF the ground in this picture! This was right around mile 6.6, when we realized we were halfway through the race! I was leaping and singing with JOY!

This may have been the most picturesque
13.1 miles I've ever walked in one day.

Do you see what I see? Love it.

Not exactly what you want to see at mile ELEVEN.
Yes, 11, not 1. Rather confusing. We trekked onward.

Do you see what I see? Love it.

Ah, the beautiful side of the road, with its cascading......HOLY COW! Check out the miniature human on the left side of this picture, and you'll see why Sarah reminded me that perhaps now was NOT the best time to skip along the trail! YIKES!

Not all that often you can see and hear a TRAIN below you!

BOOYA! Georgetown mile marker! Almost there! This was about the time we chatted with Ruth Ann who helped sing us through the last mile or so. "Just put one foot in front of the other..." We finished in 3 hours, 14 minutes, and 8 seconds! Glad I picked up that pedometer: over 33,000 steps!

Anyone surprised he's STILL texting when
he's 50 feet from the finish line? Nope.

Super cool end, right in the middle of town. Sweet.

The Glusenkamps, post-race.

We are one happy, relieved and sore bunch!

The Palm Cross has finished another race!

SLACKERS!
(Again, just picture Traci between Mark and Sherrie)

Smooth-talking Sue Ann traded her raffle prize (a magazine subscription) for this lovely garden gnome she named George. He uses solar energy to light up, and made the bus ride back to our car a hoot! Hys-ter-i-cal.

Quick stop in Idaho Springs to eat lunch and take a quick pic with the waterfall. Pretty sure I fell asleep at the table multiple times. Thankfully, I wasn't the one driving back to Denver!

The Faithful Soles! Walk on!

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