2008 Salt Lake City Marathon.

Starting line 7:00 a.m.

I have waited a long time to check this one off of my list. I think that I was 18 years old when I originally set the goal to run a marathon. I then went on my mission and got "chubby" and sort of gave up on myself.

Every year that I see the marathon take place, I get emotional and say to myself, "next year I am going to run this." Well this year really was the year. I set my 2008 goals in November of 2007. Among them was to complete the 2008 Salt Lake City Marathon.

I started "marathon training" on January 1st and followed the "Less is More" plan that was in an issue of Runners World Magazine. I ran in snow, rain, sleet and wind. My wife carried the family load on Saturdays so that I might get my distance runs in. It was literally a family affair and I cannot thank my wife enough for all of the support that she gave to me.

Going into Mile 7.

The race itself was a wild event. I started very strong and felt great. I even set a personal record through 6 miles. Then came the winds!!! The course took us South from I-80 to 6200 South the entire time running into a wind that was reported to be 45 mph. BRUTAL!!!!! I hit my wall 4 miles earlier than usual.

My support team for the day included my Wife and kids, Mother-in-law, Mother (in town from Alaska), Dad and his wife Farrah, Greg, John, Brian, Cathy & Rob and kids, John Peterson, Dustin Tate ( he went late to the U spring game, now that is devotion!), Ben Wilkinson (ran 2 marathons on crutches), La La Canada (ran next to me for a mile or two) and many more friends that sent text's and emails. My sisters even chipped in and got me an hour long massage. As you can tell, I did not do this alone.

Brian and Cathy rode their bikes around town and found me just when I needed GU or ibuprofen or water or mostly encouragement. Greg rode next to me from miles 23 to 25 telling me the whole time that I was there and that I had made it.

Sarah and the kids made me medals with special notes on the back. I have the best family!

And then came the finish. I was about 1/2 mile from the Gateway where the race ended when I started to think that I had no gas left for a celebration. I thought " oh well, at least you did it." I then turned the corner into the Gateway, the entire stretch was lined with cheering fans. Still no emotion on my part. I was at the middle intersection of the Gateway, when I looked up and saw the word written vertically FINISH.

Then the emotion came, I started to clap and let out a loud yell. I am not really sure what I even said. I looked to my right and saw my beautiful wife cheering so loud. I started to cry tears of pure joy and relief. The adrenaline kicked in and I sprinted to the line. The announcer said "Mark Robbins 1133 from Salt Lake City" (I know because I have watched the video 5 times.) I crossed the line and Brian stepped out and gave me a huge hug. I could not contain the emotion. It was an amazing feeling.

I was much slower than I wanted to be. I haven't even checked my official time. My goal was just to finish. We'll worry about my time next year. :)