26.2 Miles!

Dee & I had gone on a trip to Utah with friends from our Ward during Pioneer Week. The entire purpose of this trip was for Dee & his guy friends to run the Desert News Marathon. It's been a challenge for him to find time to train and have the motivation to keep up with this goal. He was grateful that he did it with a few of his close friends. There were several late nights that he would be out running after he had gotten home from a long day of work, but he was determined to make it out to the marathon & survive it all.

Of course being Polynesian, you really don't hear much of one running a marathon, let alone run down the block. (Maybe if a poly was going after a pig!!! LOL!) So several family member of ours thought he was crazy. And they definitely were doubting him that he wasn't going to do it. To be honest, we both didn't think he would have done it if it wasn't for Eric, Mark, and Jason who consistently trained along side with him when they could. It truly has been a real test of endurance for both him and I to see this through, and I am so proud of him for doing this.
This is the guys relaxing the day before! Dee & Mark look like their missionaries! We got to do a session in the Salt Lake Temple that day!

Once we had picked up their packets, we decided to drive the 26.2 mile route to see what the guys were up against. We stopped along the route to take pictures of the beautiful view! It definitely made all of us nervous to see the hills the guys had to run up and down the next morning! Word of advice "NEVER drive the route the day before the race! jK!

Here is Dee and I enjoying the Utah air! As you can see, Dee wasn't smiling because he was focusing on the hill that he had to run the next morning!

Here are the guys Friday July 24th at 3:00AM posing right before their race! Samantha Lindsey had ironed on "TEAM ORGAN DONOR" on the back of their shirts! They sure did get alot of comments on their shirts during the race! Some actually took it literally! But it was a good laugh! They definitely survived it and didn't have to donate their organs!

The Race started at 5:30AM and us wives had waited for our men at Mile 17 with their water, honey, & gu! I was so excited to see my husband coming! I was so nervous for him because this was his first time ever doing something like this, so I wasn't sure how he was handling it all! The night before was definitely hard for me to sleep I couldn't imagine what was going on in Dee's mind!

Here is Dee at mile 19

After meeting Dee at Mile 17 & 19, we went to the finish line! I was too anxious and worried about Dee because he had told me he was cramping up! So I met him at mile 23 and ran the rest of the way with him to keep him going!

Finally the finish line in view! When we were towards the end, Dee keep saying "Are we there yet"!

I am so proud of my husband! He had 12 weeks to train and did an awesome job, especially for someone who never runs. He finished with a time of 5hours and 1min! As much pain as he was in after it was all done, he said he would do it again! At least he knows what to expect now!

Here are all the guys at the end of the race posing with their Marathon Medal! They did an awesome job!

Here is Dee and I posing after it was done!

Here is the whole gang! The runners and the Runners support group! We pitched in to rent a 12 passenger van to fit us all! After the race the wives all gave their hubby's a massage and we had dinner at the Rodizio Grill! It was an awesome trip of which we have made it an annual trip to do! We are hoping that more will join us next year! "GO TEAM ORGAN DONOR!"

Here is a video clip of the 4 guys running the 20 Meter dash in the McDonald parking lot. It was one of our stops on the way home and Eric thought it would be funny to see them run since they were in pain! Apparently we've adapted this 20 meter race to be a apart of our annual Utah trip! 20 Meter dash requirements:

1Your only eligible to run this race if you ran the marathon,

2Wear the official "Team Organ Donor" shirt

3 Flip Flops only!

It's hillarious to see them to try to run as fast as they could while they were in pain! It was brutal but way too funny in the end!