The Adventures of the Crazy Forrest Family and the Salt Lake 1/2 Marathon

Okay, so this is the post you have all been waiting for...don't lie and stop making so many comments...it's embarrassing me. I guess that is what I get for getting addicted to Facebook and ignoring everyone's blogs. Stupid Scramble game. Anyway, the day arrived for us to trek out to Utah and run the SLC 1/2 Marathon. I am proud to say that this was my third 1/2 marathon in a year. I am not braggin' or anything. I am just saying cuz' really the only thing else that I have is that I waste too much time on facebook. It's okay though. I am getting a little bored of Facebook, so there is nothing to worry about. Lucky for me and short attention spans.

Here is how it all went down. We filled the van Thurdsay afternoon (April 17th). We heard it was going to snow all the way from here to Utah, so I picked the kids up from school, well I tried too, but I got there five minutes after three and I guess you have to be there before three or you have to wait unitl 3:20pm. I was not happy about that and it was not my proudest moment, but what are you going to do. I have seen worse. Finally, I get the kids, get stuck in traffic, get Gary from work, drive on to Longmont, and pick up Hollie. By now, it is raining some. We start driving down 287 from Fort Collins to Wyoming. The rain turns to snow. We can't really see what is in front of us. It takes thirty minutes to drive 10 miles. We think about heading back, but we keep going. We get to a point where the is a row of cars stopped on the highway. We decide to turn around. Hollie calls Ryan and he says that 287 has been closed. We don't really know what to do and we are hungry. So, we go to Culver's in Longmont, home of the famous butter burger...and when they say butter, they are not joking.....

Here is where the pictures start. Lucky you. After we eat our dinner, the nice lady gave the boys free icecream.

Jack totally loved his...can you tell? This sums up how we all felt...and oh no...this night got a little longer.


Yes, I am tired and Jack is completely gone. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to fall asleep anywhere like that?


So, after driving to Longmont, we talk to Brigham, who says, "Oh yeah, just try coming in the morning, the storm will be over by then." We then drive back to Fort Collins (40 minutes from Longmont...Hollie likes to talk about this one because she was 40 minutes from her bed) to a nice Day's Inn that takes dogs, lucky for Eddy. Doesn't Hollie look so comfortable?


Jack and John thought this was the next best thing to candy and Spiderman. They were bouncing off the walls. "We're in a motel! That's where I am sleeping! AHHHHHHH!" You know, stuff like that.



We get up the next morning only to find that I-80 is still closed. Completely bummed out, we start driving Hollie back to Longmont. While we are driving, we brainstorm....how about taking I-70?...Too snowy....How about renting an SUV and taking I-70?...no SUV's that fit seven in Denver...how about Gary and Isabel fly out?....Nothing seems to be going our way. But, I am determined. Have you every run in a race before? It is so awesome and we worked so hard. We feel the whole thing is a bust and drive home. In the meantime, the girls are devastated. Wailing and sobbing, Isabel declares that she is never going to run again...oh the horror. Lucy, just cries and wails and wants to go and see her cousins so bad. We videoed it. It is pretty funny. I am going to use it as blackmail one day.

We get home and James calls. He finds tickets to Utah for $88 round trip that is scheduled to leave for Utah at 9:00pm. We buy 7. Holy Cow! Is this really going to happen? About 4:00pm, the snow starts pounding. I tell Gary that we better get to the airport. While driving down E470, cars are sliding off the road, the snow is heavy, we are driving so slow, I say to everyone one, if we actually make it to Utah, it will be a miracle. I was having plenty of doubts about this thing really happening and I couldn't believe what we were doing.

This is what it looked like when we left the house.


We get to the airport and eat some really (not really) healthy dinner.

The boys at this point are SLAP-HAPpy. Awesome!!

We get ready to go through security and we happen upon this sign. Salt Lake? A piece of cake?...Riiiiiight. Classic. I felt like that sign was mocking me in some ways. Rude.

We did have cheap airline tickets, but we figured out the reason why that was....it was because you had to pay $15 for every bag you checked it. OH, the HUMANITY!! Notice, every kid must carry on. "I don't care if you are tired...just do it!!" Aren't they the cutest little troopers?

Here we are on the train going to our first gate. It is about 7:00pm and our flight was supposed to leave at 9:00pm.

Oh yes, this was fun...let's see, I think we rode on the ramps about ten times each way. What happened to my sleepy guys? At that moment, I wanted them back, so bad. uhhhh. Look at how much fun I am having.

Here we are at the second gate where our flight got moved too. It was about 9:00pm, the flight got moved to 10:21pm. Really, how do they figure out the one? Do you think that is an exact science or is someone trying to be funny? It didn't even board close to 10:21pm.

How are they not tired?
Well, the plane finally leaves around 12:00am. That is after we have boarded and then sat in line for the de-icer, then waited another 1/2 hour for all the planes in front of us to move. The whole time I am thinking that I can't even believe this actually happened. It was a 1/2 marathon miracle.

We land in Utah about 1:30am. By the time we get to bed it is 2:00am. Gary sets the alarm for 5:45am and guess what! We totally wake up.
Here we are leaving Grandpa Forrest's house.

The rest of the story goes like this...We get to the starting line seconds before the gun shoots off. Gary takes off because he is fast like that. I run the first three miles with Megan, Hollie, Lindsey and another really cute girl and I can't for the life of me remember her name. But, I liked her right away.

We get to aid Station 2, where the Forrest's and the Stapley's are volunteering. We stop, drink, take pictures, drop off long sleeved shirts, and take more pictures. I ask Wendy where Hollie is and she says that Hollie took off. So, I take off looking for her. I can't find her anywhere. So then it happens...I think to myself...I did not just go through the past couple of days and 3 hours of sleep for nothing...I am going for it. So, I do. I run my little heart out. I see Gary on a turn and then I see Mya (my old roommate). I stop at all the aid stations and stretch a little at every second or third one. Suddenly, I am at mile 10...I am like...no way....so I keep running....only a 5K left. So, I run as fast as I can which is not super fast when you are running up State Street...hello!!! Finally, we turn off of State and run down by the temple. It is so nice because it is more down hill. I run and run and run. I get to the Gateway Mall and start running down that little stretch to the finish line. I slow down a little, but this cute little old lady keeps passing me....so I think, oh no little old lady, you picked the wrong day to mess with me. I start hauling as fast as I can. I am wearing my heart rate monitor and my heart rate spikes up to 199. That has never happened in my Spinning class before....NEVER. So, I cross the finish line. My time was 2:14:47, which was about 16 minutes faster than my 2:30:? from last year. AWESOME!!

This is me and my old roommate and good buddy, Mya. Little disclaimer about my hair....it is a mess...I dyed it and redyed it and think that I will never get my old color back and will look like Ronald McDonald forever. Let this be a lesson to you young kids...just don't do it. Get highlights are something. Don't go crazy!

Isabel ran the 5K and Lucy ran the 1K. This is where I wish I had photoshop and could circle her and make an arrow pointing her out. I am not that cool, but someday...watch out.

Here are all the runners, plus Grandpa who is our devoted babysitter and just all around awesome guy. How awesome are we?



We did it and we lived to tell about it. Pretty cool adventure if you ask me....kind of makes me tired and kind of makes me want to go to bed right now. I sure love our little Forrest team. It makes things more fun when you have awesome friends and family that want to do cool things with you. You guys rock!!! RUN FORREST RUN!!!