Run, run, and run some more… Boy, did we have a great time doing the Top of Zion relay this year!  We trained all summer and finally the day arrived.  It was such a great experience with our family and friends and we were so proud of ourselves when we crossed the finish line!

The night of the welcome party, we drove down a little early and did some exploring at Capitol Reef.  Wow, was it beautiful!  We had a great time visiting Chimney Rock, the Castle, and so many other incredible rock formations.  We hiked the Hickman Bridge, which was also amazing but more of a hike than we were expecting!  We then went to Sunset Point, which was stunning.  It was so fun to explore and enjoy the gorgeous scenery!

In the evening, we went to the race welcome party. We learned it’s a VERY small race so the party was small, but it was still fun! We got the “runners special” spaghetti dinner for $7, which was pretty good! Part of our team showed up halfway through, so we left while they were getting food and we went back to go to bed. We decided the first five of us would wake early and everyone else could sleep in, so we went to bed first. The tent is actually quite nice and it was surprisingly comfortable!

The morning started early. We had to be at the starting line at 4:00 AM so we woke up at 3:30 and drove over. It was so cold!

Spencer started the race and did great on his leg. He ran over 9 miles and then Tom took over. He ran about 7 miles…

… and then Danielle took over. She ran 4 miles…

… and then passed off to me. All of our legs were uphill with pretty steep elevation gains, so that definitely made it more challenging. I did my 7 miles though and it seemed we were all quite proud for accomplishing something like this. Our training definitely paid off!

After I ran, it was Abby‘s turn. Her leg was the most exciting because she was neck and neck with the runner behind her. All of us up to that point were in first place so we were trying to maintain that and Abby was killing it. It was super fun to watch! Abby won so we were in first place after five legs.

The other van hadn’t shown up yet, so Tom ran the first part of Carla‘s leg until the other runners arrived.  We then decided to go to breakfast since we were done with our first legs and had a while until our next legs.  We went to a local place called Hell’s Backbone Grill and it was DELICIOUS!  It was nice to be able to sit and enjoy a meal in a nice, warm place.  We loved it!

By the time we were done with breakfast, our third van of runners still hadn’t shown up.  We had to switch around a bunch of legs because of it, but thankfully it all worked out. Tom ran a super hard leg which was pretty much all uphill, but he killed it and did great.

It was really fun and we were all having a great time. Thankfully the other group of runners arrived during leg 12, which Danielle started running for Jacob but then he finished. We followed along for a while and then went to the local high school to get showered. They were doing a fundraiser so Tom, Spencer, and Jacob showered and got cleaned up. I had another run that night, so Abby and I just relaxed while they showered. The principal of the high school was so nice and got us yoga mat and water bottles and chocolate milk and bags of ice. It was nice to be able to relax for a bit. We then drove up and met up with the team. It seemed everyone was having a great time!

Next we went to the exchange point for our evening runs and got to see a really beautiful sunset.

After we finished our nighttime legs, we drove to exchange 24 where there was a campsite. It was so incredibly cold and we were shaking as we put up the tent. We got it up quickly though and we were in bed before you knew it! It was pretty far out there so at one point we stopped to look at the map and make sure we were going the right way, but indeed we were. We drove through Bryce Canyon but unfortunately it was at night, so we didn’t really get to see much. We were sure glad we weren’t the group running through the night! It was cold and dark and tough enough to sleep, let alone run! But, all in all, it was an awesome day and we’re all really proud of ourselves!

The night was a little crazy, so it was tough to run after being so cold and getting hardly any sleep and not having dinner, but thankfully it still went well! Tom and I had great sleeping bags and so we were able to get a little bit of sleep, but Spencer ended up sleeping in the bathroom because he was so cold! The other team woke us up about 6 AM and we switched places with them so they could sleep in the tent and we could go run. It was crazy! It was 20 degrees when we got up… Not ideal running weather! Spencer did great though — he killed his leg! Then Danielle took over and she did great. This race was a big goal and hurdle for her since her ACL surgery, but she did awesome! We were so proud of her! I took over after Danielle for my last leg… Thankfully the sun had come up and so it was getting a little warmer! Abby then had her last leg, and she did great.  We then cheered on some of the other runners and enjoying the scenery — it was gorgeous!

We drove by a really pretty lake on our way to Tom’s last leg, and we stopped to get pictures.  It was beautiful!

Tom had his leg later in the day. It was nine miles and he KILLED it! He averaged a 6:38 mile — so crazy fast! It’s funny because everyone wants to make #TrainLikeTom shirts! All the young runners kept asking Tom for running and recovery tips. He had his own little fan club! It was awesome.

After Tom’s leg, we then drove along and cheered on our other runners, and then we headed to the finish line. It was super small! Definitely different than Ragnar, but still fun! My parents were there along with Ryan and Dylan and Uncle Mike. It was sweet of them to be there and it meant a lot! We waited for Jacob and then we all ran across the finish line together. It was awesome!

We then did lots of pictures and got our medals and then ate some dinner. They had barbecued hot dogs and chips and it was surprisingly delicious — probably because we were so hungry! Autumn and Allison then jumped into the pond, which was freezing! It was fun to just celebrate and enjoy some time at the finish line before we packed up and headed home.

It as such a good weekend overall, that included some new personal records!  The weekend ended with a beautiful sunset over the red rocks as we drove home.  It was perfect and so incredible!  We did it!!!