Danny's CREW

Saturday I ran my second 1/2 marathon with a few of my favorite people. Here is most of the crew...

We ran this race in honor of my Uncle Danny that maintained the road for a long time. I also had many memories of riding up to the cabin with him along that stretch of highway. 

Our Orange shirts gathered a few questions along the route and got us a mention in southern Utah's newspaper...
One group of runners banded together to run the race on SR14 in memorium of Danny Mitchell, who passed away 15 years ago due to a heart attack. Mitchell was a former UDOT manager who maintained the section of State 4 Route 14 up the canyon where the runners ran on Saturday. 
Mitchell's daughter Toni Garza always had a goal to run a half-marathon and when she learned the course would be on the same road her Dad worked to maintain with UDOT 15 years ago, she figured she would run it in honor of him. Toni said 15 other runners composed of 4 siblings, 4 cousins, and a group of close friends also decided to join her wearing bright orange shirts labeled "Danny's Crew." 
"I knew it would take some inspiration, Toni Said, Something to distract us as we ran, that is why we decided to do it." 
The Mitchell family plans to make the run a tradition and said they hope there will be more orange shirts on the road joining them next year.
-Cimaron Neugebauer, Spectum 

A few things I learned from my 2nd half... The bus ride up the canyon was the longest trip of my life and I don't fit in a bus seat so well anymore, you lose a lot of time to stop at the bathrooms, watch out for sticks before the race begins, the canyon road is NOT level!! Milts to Rusty seemed 5 miles apart, wear a knee brace so your knee doesn't start KILLING at mile 9, pack an extra cup in case the stations run out??? be prepared for the hill on mile 11, seeing the finish line at 12 and still having to run through the neighborhood to get there, make a new friend at 12.5 miles to help you make it to the end, loving the site of your kids and hubby at the finish line, and if you sit on the ground to eat your fruit your kids might snake your apple and banana!!! I beat my first half by 30 minutes and couldn't be happier about this race!!

Here are a few more pics of us finishing up the race thanks to Brady!!