She likes to run

We packed up the family and headed South to St. George for a little sunshine, and time off. SDAY has spent the past few cold winter months pounding the pavement and occasionally the indoor track, in preparation for the St. George Half Marathon. This would be her first Half so she was a bit nervous. I was confident though, that all her hard work would for pay off and she’d find it much easier than she anticipated. The extra cool thing about SDAY running the Half, is that she wouldn’t be doing it alone. For a good part of the summer, fall and winter months, Becky Andrews, SDAY’s good friend was a part of the exact training plan. Literally, step by step. Becky Andrews is an inspiration to us all. She’s a blind athlete with an amazing amount of determination to accomplish just about anything. SDAY is her guide runner and together they’ve put in a lot of time in both training and learning how to work together, navigate through crowds of people, avoid unstable ground and other obstacles that may be in their path and finding the athlete inside. Becky puts a lot of trust in Shannon, as well as Shannon into Becky. They make a great team and in many ways, have accomplished more in their short time running together than most do in a lifetime.Throughout the race on Saturday they kept a strong pace (which Shan said they could have probably gone a bit faster) and finished with huge smiles on their face. Immediately began talking about what their next event would be and making plans to attend. If you’ve ever crossed the line of an event you once questioned that you’d even have the ability to finish, feeling great and very satisfied, you can relate. I’m very proud of Shannon and Becky for taking on this challenge. For paying money to run that far… It’s a whole different world than cycling. Not sure if I’ll ever run that far. And for finding in their selves that they can do this and that because of their dedication, it was easier than they expected. Well done ladies.The following day we joined the Arnells and their dog Tahoe, for a little recovery hike. The dogs had a great time and burned off a lot of energy before the long drive home.Thanks again to Weston, Julianne and Tahoe, for the roof over our head and good company. Lets do it again next year!*Race Note: Julianne also ran more than half of the Half with Shan and Becky at a pretty brisk pace.