In my 40 years of running/walking, I have never experienced what I did today in the Ogden Marathon. It was the most intense, wickedly, wild, race I have ever been in. For those of you who were DNF’s, quit beating yourselves up! You trained hard, and you showed up. You all gave it your Best. The weather was at fault here not you. I walked the half today, and was thankful that I finished. I want to describe to you what it was like for me. When we first started out, it was a gentle drizzle. I was thinking, “Ok, it just a little drizzle this year, and it will let up.” Ha, it was just great until I rounded the curve to start for the spillway. That is when the first wind hit. I would guess that it was blowing about 15 to 20 MPH at that point. The closer I got to the Canyon the stronger the gust became. After the spillway, as I rounded the corner to head down the canyon, I encountered a cross wind coming out of Wheeler Canyon. It whipped at my rain poncho, and nearly blew off me. As I got deeper into the canyon, a gust would come up the canyon every time there was a bend in the road. When I got to Grey Cliff Lodge, I looked up, and you could see the rain bands coming off of one side of the canyon wall and going up the other side. It was like watching the movie Twister when they encounter the rain band coming off the river I kept waiting for the cow to fly by. When I hit mile 7 of the half, a gust of about 50 Miles and hour, just about knocked me off my Feet. It flipped my poncho up over my head and I was walking blind. I was glad that there were two people behind me that came to my rescue to untangle me from my dilemma. The heavy gusts continued until we hit the mouth of the canyon at the Ogden end. Once we hit the parkway, the wind had died down. I was cold and wet, and I could not feel my feet. My knees were so cold that they ached. I began to warm up rather quickly, and by the time I started down Park Blvd, I could feel again. I knew at that point I would finish. It was not a personal Best finish, but my goal was different this year due to the fact that I have been sick with Bronchitis for a few weeks. To all of you who participated today, kudos to you. We all deserve those medals. I hope that each and every one of you, wear them with pride this coming week. To all the full marathoners, I am cheering for you. That had to have been very difficult today. Be proud of your accomplishment today even if it wasn’t your PB. You finished. Unless you were in the race or a volunteer in that canyon, you have no idea what it was like out there today. Good luck runners (and walkers) for the rest of the season, and keep on keeping on. Side note: To my friend Cristina from WIM. You are not a failure, the weather today was. You keep doing what you’re doing, and you will finish. I promise you.