Gutbuster?

Another first in my life:  my first cross country/trail  race.   This morning Andy, Tony, Morgan and a whole bunch of friends and relatives participated in the 35th annual Samuel Holland Gutbuster Race!

Now when I say race, don't think for a minute that I ran all that distance, up and down those hills, but please imagine that I gave it my best shot, up and over, down and out.  Actually, the walk from the car to the start of the course would have done me in a year ago, so I'm pretty pleased.

We started early, way too early for me, stopping for supplies (Gatorade and cough drops)

And once we got to the park, we had a loooong walk down to the start line!

Some of us went faster than the rest.  Once we got registered, we had to hang around for quite a while while they registered everyone.

We finally decided to take the after picture before, while all of us were standing:

The gang:  Andy, Heather, Wes, Tyler, Sydney, Morgan, Tony, Mike, Me, Tori, Kayla and Jim!

The boys ran the 4 mile course, along with Heather and Wes.  Morgan, Sydney and Tyler ran the 2 mile course, so did Tori and Kayla (we think).  Mike, Jim and I SURVIVED the 2 mile course, which is a personal best for us.  Another thing crossed off my Bucket List.

Now we're home, ready to shower and leave again, off on a quest for a turkey dinner.  This holiday feels strange to me, and I don't even feel like leaving the house, but in the middle of all the sadness and grief is that reminder that I am blessed and have much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you!

Now don't just sit there, go out and be a blessing to someone else!

Love,

Jan

But before we left...

We headed for North Park to watch a Month of Mud race.  Andy and Tony raced on unicycles in the first race and Tony raced his mountain bike later in the day.  It was cold and rainy, as Month of Mud races tend to be (maybe that's why they are named that?)

Everyone huddled in a pavillion, waiting for the race to start.  They go on, rain or shine and it's usually rain!

Andy in black and yellow jacket, Tony in white helmet...

The course was marked with what appeared to be crime scene tape to me, but I think mud should be considered a crime, so it seemed appropriate.  The number of laps is determined by the leader of the class.  As many laps as he or she completes in 30 minutes plus one lap.  Dave, pictured below, was the leader...which is always expected.  That man has legs made of steel, I swear and HE'S ALWAYS SMILING!  Seriously...the workout on these races is unbelievable and yet Dave and Andy always smile as they are racing...???

The course went through a tunnel under the road, a pavilion and round trees and swing sets...Here's Andy coming through the pavilion with Tony right behind him (of course, Thing one and Thing two.)

Issac, one of the other "local" unicyclers came by looking a little muddy...

Tony didn't look all that clean by this point...

How do you steer when you don't have a steering wheel?  Here's a clue...

Also, as part of the course, there are obstacles set up.  There are rules as to how high they must be, how far apart...but all I know is that you have to stop, get off and carry your bike while running through the mud. 

Here's the end of the race.  Dave (with legs of steel) came in first in the unicycle division, Andy second and Tony third...You can just see Tony's head, he's behind the guy with the blue jacket.

After the race...my Thing one and Thing two!

I love that they do things together and seem to enjoy spending time with each other...

We wanted to get on the road...so we didn't stay for the bicycle race but we heard it was a muddy mess...

The road trip was a blast!  Details later!

Glad you stopped by...come back soon!

 36th Annual Butler Road Race!

Mark and  I were up and out early on Saturday morning, it was a big day in our family.  All four of my kids, my daughter-in-law, Tony's girlfriend and her brother were participating in the race.

The first thing we saw when we got there was Michael  pretending to warm up, Catherine pretending to stop traffic and Andy looking confused.

 

The first thing I did was hand one of my cameras to Mark...

I hate having my picture taken anytime but at 8:30 AM is out of the question!

Vicky was the last to get there...

 

Looks like Vicky and Michael are happy to see each other!

Don't you just love it when siblings are so supportive of each other?

 Of course, there are days when we think maybe Vicky's black belts are a little too tight...

This was an events of first in our family:  First race ever for Andy, Tony, Michael and Tyler.  The first time since high school track for Vicky.   Second race for Morgan, she raced last year.  Michael claims it was the first time he has run since junior high.  Catherine is a veteran.  She has run this race several times and placed in the top three of her class in 2009 and 2010.

The training methods were just as interesting.  Catherine actually trains.  Morgan has been training for a few weeks but this year was diagnosed with asthma and is having a hard time getting it under control. 

Andy and Tony took Andy's dog out on one training run (all three of them slept for 12 hours after that)

Everyone there had their own agenda:  Tony wanted to beat Andy.  Andy wanted to beat Morgan.  Michael wanted to walk the whole course with me.  Catherine came to run! 

I finally got the kids together for a pre-race team photo:

 And it was race time!

Even though they were racing in 5 different classes, they all started at the same time.  It seemed like an hour or more, but finally we saw...

Tony! 

We didn't know how he placed in his class...but in a minute or two we saw...

Yes!  Andy!

Catherine came along next, but she said, "NO PICTURES!"  That left us time to look down the street and see...

Michael!

Next came Vicky!

And then came Morgan and Tyler.  Morgan chose to stay with Tyler.  It was his first race.

We waited for the results to be posted.  That's when we found out that Tony came in first in his class...

 At 11 the night before the race, someone suggested that since we had so many family members racing, we should have a family trophy.  I scrambled though my stash of craft supplies and found nothing suitable, then I had a brain storm!  I went through the box of trophies Tony had saved since he was little and found one (almost suitable for the occasion).

I proudly presented Tony with the first annual M family trophy...

Formerly known as his bowling trophy (circa 1995).

Then they started the awards.  Catherine came in third in her division and got a medal:

Andy and Tony ran in the same division.  Andy came in second:

Tony came in first!

 Michael came in 8th in his division.  Not too shabby for a man who hasn't run since junior high.  Vicky came in 4th in hers.  They sure made us proud.

We lined the champs up for a photo:

And all the kids:

Morgan was there to congratulate her guy:

What a fun morning.  We all went out for brunch and had a blast.  The kids are already making plans for the next race...wonder who will take the trophy home?