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Just one thought . . . to keep on, for 26 miles By
Jeff Burton The sun is still hours from rising over the autumn-colored mountains of Cache Valley. Early on a crisp fall morning you can hear the sound of chattering of teeth. Those in the crowd jump and jog in place. Some stretch, others meditate. They try to get loose and stay warm. They are bundled up like little kids going out to play. Their feet are covered by fairly new but well broken in running shoes. "Are you ready for this?" one anxiously and nervously asks another. "I can't believe we are doing this," comes the response. The gunshot cracks in the morning sky and they are off. Several thousand of them. Those near the back do not even begin moving for several minutes. They just wait as they nervously contemplate the next few hours of the struggles they will experience. And the trek begins. The running of the Top of Utah Marathon takes place every fall in Logan. The annual occasion draws thousands of runners and supporters They brave the cool temperatures to participate in an event often described as brutal torture of the human body and soul. One of the runners toward the middle has a big smile. Her white, straight teeth are clinched in the cool morning breeze. Her shoulder-length, brown hair is pulled back in a ponytail. Her right knee taped up a bit, and already a little sore. For months she has been preparing, practicing, dreaming of the day that she would accomplish the feat of running 26.2 miles in the mountains of northern Utah. An optimistic tune comes from inside her. Hayley Palmer set a goal months ago with some friends who challenged her to complete the grueling training and preparation in order to compete in the marathon. Oddly enough, her friends did not run in the event. Palmer, who pulled two muscles in her right leg, had not trained outside for two weeks because of the injury. A little bit nervous at the starting point is understandable for this 20 year old girl who has never run that distance in her life. The most she had run was 20 miles, but that was with a healthy body, weeks earlier. Now she was expected to run 26 and with a tender right leg. The first several miles are fun and fast. It's still cool and the course mostly flat or downhill. Palmer and long-time friend Kristen Anderson run together and help bolster each other. They talk, laugh and have a fun time. They reminisce, about old times, boyfriends, high school and junior college experiences, which makes the run more bareable. Their minds our taken off the grueling adventure. At mile about mile eight the sun climbs over the mountain and brightens everything with its warm rays. Palmer, runs with pain reliever pills stashed away. She popped four before the race and as she hits mile 10, pops in four more. The pain is not too bad at this point, but her body can already feel the pain coming. The two girls continue their fun, upbeat talk and laughing, but soon realize they will be running for two more hours. When unhappy thoughts almost set in, the girls are joined by Nate Nielson and Steve Davis. "Hey!" Palmer yells. "Look who it is! Do you guys want to finish the race for us?" she jokes. "Come on girls, pick it up!" Nielsen says. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" The girls are so glad to see their friends. "I don't know if I could have kept it up, if they hadn't showed up," Palmer admitted about Nielsen and Davis. "They really gave us a great boost when the race was getting tough." The trek continues. Mile 20, still six long miles from the end, has come. The sun is now beating down and the heat is another obstacle they will have to bare. More pain relievers are fed to the failing body. As the girls continue to press forward thoughts of quitting enter the girls' minds. They know they must go on but physically they don't know how it will happen. She remembers once thinking, after running a half-marathon that she would never be able to complete an entire marathon. She wonders why she is running. Yet she realizes what a great accomplishment this would be. She keeps on running. A few miles from the end, she sees her father and chills run up and down her spine. Palmer is the first from her large family to ever run a marathon. The inspiration of her parents gives her boost, another encouragement to keep going. Finally, after four hours plus of running and at times, just plugging along, Palmer sees a sight, that she'll never forget. The finish line. "Hayley, don't stop running" written on a yellow banner encourages her to keep going. As she nears the finish, the cheers get louder. Because of the pain her smile is a forced one now. Her speed picks up, the pain increases. With every small step on the pavement, a great throbbing shoots up her body. Again chills rush her body, the excitement replaces the discouragement. Yet, she still wonders if she can finish. Her body is near exhaustion. She feels as if she is in a dream. Things are so distant. She asks herself, Is this really happening? She again sees her dad, who has now positioned himself atop the bleachers. He whistles and yells, as only a proud parent would understand her joy. As Palmer crosses the finish line she hugs her mom, partly out of joy to see her, but mostly so she doesn't pass out. "I was so glad my mom was there to catch me. I was so exhausted I just wanted to crash to the ground. I felt so delirious as I crossed the finish line," Palmer said. Why would anyone endure this pain? What would possibly get anyone to begin this task, being fully aware that the hurt will exist not only in the next few moments but also for days and weeks to come? The feeling of pride, the warmth of the heart, the adrenalin shooting up and down the pained body will replace the feelings of pain, fatigue and the voices in the head that pathetically say, "Stop!" "What are you thinking?" "It's too far and way too hard." But people, thousands of them line up, fully aware of these feelings to run. For one man the emotions run high. Throughout the entire marathon he carried a standard size American flag, a symbol of freedom suddenly mor symbolic now because of the eventts of September 11. As he run through the course carrying the red, white and blue attached to a 6-foot pole, people have stirring emotions. Chills are felt. Some place thier hand over their heart out of respect. A child points and says, "Look, mommy, that man is carrying our flag." Cheers follow the man all the way to the finish line, after a difficult race with an awkward object. At the end the pain now fully has set in as the runners stop for the first time in several hours. One man limps across the line and is carried by another man to a bench. Another man is lying on the ground. His face is tensed. Lines cover his olive-colored skin. Just the sight fills the spectator with a hurt inside. A dozen pathetically lay on stretchers with their face off looking down at the dirt. Sighs of relief are heard as trained professionals caresses and knead their hands and fingers into the pained bodies. One man smiles because of the joy and relief. "I'm proud to be an American" is heard by a local band standing less than 100 yards away on a stage. Kids run through the park play. At and around the finish line two drastically different characteristics exist: those in pain and complete fatigue and those who have come to lift them up. An unbelievable event has taken place. To Palmer, now nearly passed out under a large tree, she thinks about what she has just done, yet is quickly brought back to reality with the feelings of how exhausted her body feels. She did it. "It just shows me that if I put my mind to something I can accomplish it no matter how hard it may seem. That is a great lesson that I will apply for the rest of my life," Palmer said.
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