Here is the wonderful house where we stayed during our 3 day relaxation (at least it was relaxing for me). It was so nice and way worth paying a little more than we would have for the other home options. Wahoo!
There was someone in the hot tub every night. Usually more than one. The night before the race Jon, Ryan, and I all got in around 2 a.m. (apparently, it's hard to sleep the night before a race -- even for the non-runners). It was tons of fun!
This is the freezing cold pool that no one got in, except the crazy Snarr's (more to follow on that).
The cheering fans! The Hansen family came down for a little getaway (thanks Perkins' for letting them stay in your house so they could share in this awesome event with us). It was great having so many people cheering on the family.
Ryan & Nick
Dan, Jon, and Andy (sorry Becky -- still none of you, but I'm working on it)
Our victorious runners! (here's the proof that Becky actually did run -- you don't get a medal just for sitting on the sidelines)
The recovery -- watching conference and eating way too much delicious food.
After conference ended we all decided that it would be good to go out for a walk to help the runners on their road to normalcy. Becky and Ryan (being the industrious couple they are) left immediately. During the course of their absence, the rest of us decided to make the short trip to Snow Canyon, and walk around up there. Unfortunately, this resulted in the ditching of the Snarr's (unintentional of course). So, sorry Snarr's that we ditched you. But, it was still pretty cool, despite the constant guilt that was plaguing all of us.
I ask you, do these boys look a little unnatural to you? It definitely looked unnatural in person. They seriously were walking like this -- these are not posed photos to make their situation look worse. It was hilarious to watch them try and hike up the rocks and hills.
Once we returned to the house and faced the wrath of Becky and Ryan, I made everyone sit and listen to me play my violin (it was 100% pure embarrassment, and I hope to never do it again), then Ryan had Heidi teach him a little tap routine. I'm sure if you ask him he would be more than happy to perform it for you. The night was filled with games, hot tubbing, and of course, more good food (we had to either eat it or throw it away, and anyone on a budget knows how heart rending throwing out good food can be). It was pure fun all around.
So, Monday morning rolls around, and all the runners sleep in at least until 8:00. All the runners that is, except the Snarr's. Becky and Ryan had gotten up and actually gone running early that morning -- Crazy act #1. Then, they came home and immediately plunged themselves into the freezing cold pool -- crazy act #2. Seriously, it was cold outside when you were fully clothed, and that water was like hypothermia cold! They swam around for an hour or so. They assured us that after the first couple times of jumping in they didn't feel cold anymore -- I attribute this miraculous non-cold feeling to the deadening of their nerves. Anyway, cold though it may have been, they had a great time swimming around and jumping off of the little waterfall.
After the race everyone had decided that they were definitely going to take some time off from running, and maybe even be done with the whole marathon thing. Most everyone is sticking with that plan except Becky and Jon (no big surprise). They went from promising themselves they were done to planning new strategies to try in their training sessions to make them faster for the next marathon. This switch took a total of about 1, maybe 2 days.
So, there you have it. The complete rundown on the St. George Marathon. The race was a success. Everyone finished in excellent time, everyone was in pretty good condition afterward, and no one was brought to the finish line in the too slow van. It doesn't get much better than that.
Sweet Ruth and Matt brought some special gifts for the kids and they totally loved them (Matt isn't in the picture because he was busy slaving away in the kitchen making us some delicious bread for dinner -- thanks Matt).
A little bit later that night, the kids decided to play with Star. Unfortunately, Star had no say in the kind of games they played, so it ended up being Star as the horse, with all four kids as the riders. Then, the game turned into one giant dog pile -- and guess who was on the bottom. Aren't Aunt's just the greatest? 
This is the freezing cold pool that no one got in, except the crazy Snarr's (more to follow on that).
The cheering fans! The Hansen family came down for a little getaway (thanks Perkins' for letting them stay in your house so they could share in this awesome event with us). It was great having so many people cheering on the family.
Ryan & Nick
Dan, Jon, and Andy (sorry Becky -- still none of you, but I'm working on it)
Our victorious runners! (here's the proof that Becky actually did run -- you don't get a medal just for sitting on the sidelines)
The recovery -- watching conference and eating way too much delicious food.
I ask you, do these boys look a little unnatural to you? It definitely looked unnatural in person. They seriously were walking like this -- these are not posed photos to make their situation look worse. It was hilarious to watch them try and hike up the rocks and hills.
So, Monday morning rolls around, and all the runners sleep in at least until 8:00. All the runners that is, except the Snarr's. Becky and Ryan had gotten up and actually gone running early that morning -- Crazy act #1. Then, they came home and immediately plunged themselves into the freezing cold pool -- crazy act #2. Seriously, it was cold outside when you were fully clothed, and that water was like hypothermia cold! They swam around for an hour or so. They assured us that after the first couple times of jumping in they didn't feel cold anymore -- I attribute this miraculous non-cold feeling to the deadening of their nerves. Anyway, cold though it may have been, they had a great time swimming around and jumping off of the little waterfall.
