Fontana Half Marathon

On June 1 of this year Chris, Carter and I ran the Fontana Half Marathon. My good friend and neighbor Melissa, also ran with us and it was her first time.  It is located only 15 minutes from our home so it was nice and convenient.  This was my second year running the Fontana half.  Both mine and Carters second time running a half.  This is the only half I’ve ever run and I’m told it’s a pretty easy one since the entire thing is downhill.  Carter ran in Santa Barbara that was hilly and he thought this was harder due to the weather being so warm.   It was a very hot day and the temps reached 90 by the end of the race.  The race starts up in the mountains in Lytle Creek which is usually quite chilly.  When we got off the bus and it was warm at 6 o’clock in the morning I knew we were in for a rough race.  My goal was to just run the entire time and not walk.  Last year when I ran it I walked toward the end of the race.  As the race started Melissa and I stayed together with Carter and Chris.  Chris wasn’t quite as prepared for this one and so he told me to go on ahead if Melissa and I were feeling good.  Carter was going to stay with him.  We got separated at about mile 5 and at about mile 6 Carter caught up to us.  Chris had told him to just go on ahead and catch up to us.  He stayed with Melissa and I the rest of the race and it was a good thing because he just kept us going the whole time.  All I can say is man can this kid run!  Running long distances doesn’t phase him, he  doesn’t even show any sign of fatigue and keeps that little smile on his face the whole race.  This boy is born to run!  Running with him was so motivating because I got compliments from so many other runners who commented on how amazed they were that he was running it.  The age minimum was 11 but I enrolled him anyway and fudged on his age a little bit (he’s 9).  Since he’d already run a half I wasn’t worried about it.  The spectators (not many,  remember this is Fontana) were so excited when they saw Carter and would cheer him on.  It kept me going the entire way.  Next time we run together I want to wear a t-shirt that says, “I’m his mom!”. 

When we finished the run it felt so amazing to be done!  I held his hand as we crossed the finish line and I was one proud mama.  All I could think of was how much I want to do this again!  Our time was 2:18 which was a pretty good improvement from my time last year which was 2:30 (somewhere around there).  I felt so much better this year than last year.  I was much more prepared and I felt stronger. 

I absolutely loved running with my buddy Melissa.  She is a rock star.  She kept me going.  At mile 4 when the sun was beating down on us I was feeling pretty discouraged, she reminded me it was all in my mind and told me I could do it.  We definitely need to do this again together!

I didn’t get any pictures of Chris but he finished shortly after us and Carter and I crossed the finish line again with him.  He is excited to be running this October in St. George for Carter’s first Marathon.  I’m going to be a spectator this time.  Not sure I’m ready for the big one yet and I want this to be all about him.