The pre-dawn was chilly, but the sun came up around the Mall in fantastic fashion

Team Hinckley did it! See Dad's post on Team Hinckley Run for his take on our great running adventure. It was absolutely fantastic. We were chilly at the starting line, and wondered how many layers we would need. When it's dark and you're freezing and nervous about the race to trust that the sun will come up and warm you. We were grateful to the Bowlers for providing hats and gloves - we needed those - and we were grateful to the sun for keeping its promise. Wow, the early morning sun on the Capitol is pretty spectacular!

Thanks to quite a combination of factors, this half marathon was my absolute favorite of any I have run. My new running mix made up of all my dear readers' suggestions was perfect! Ann ran with me for 11.5 miles and kept me going strong, even through a severe calf-seizing incident between miles 5 and 6. With a mile and a half to go, Ann took off to test her speed. I kept pace, but I didn't feel tired of running. In fact, I was almost sad to pass the 12 mile mark; I was having such fun running! I quickly moved through my playlist to my cross-the-finish-line song: Dad's recommended recording of Jerusalem from Last Night at the Proms. Yes, it brought a few happy tears to my eyes and provided the surge of energy to cross the finish line with a big smile.

Ann was waiting for me, and claimed she had just arrived a minute or so before. Nice of her to say, but you'll note on Dad's blog that she was a full five minutes ahead of me. Yup, she picked up 5 minutes in a mile and a half! Rob, of course, left us eating his dust after about a quarter mile. He came in at 2:07. Ann arrived at 2:18. I arrived at 2:23.

In our family, slow and steady comes in . . . last. But I was happy and still full of energy at the finish line, and it was my second fastest half marathon time. Plus, I shortened my half-marathon-postpartum span to 6 months (versus 10 months with Ellie).

The best moment of the race was when Dad came across the finish line. Nine of the 10 grandchildren were there with posters they'd colored. We were standing close to the announcers (including the famous Bart Yasso), who noticed the kiddos and let them stand right next to the photographer and the announcers table. "Who are we waiting for? Pops?" they asked. We were at the finish line at about 4h 30min, well ahead of Pops' expected 5 hour arrival time, but we wanted to make sure we didn't miss it. Every once in awhile, between announcing marathon finishers, Bart and his c0-announcer would look at the kids and say, "Any sign of Pops yet? We're going to have a PARTY when we see Pops!" At last we saw Pops in the distance, turning the corner into the final stretch. He was limping a bit on his right leg, the result of a severe calf-seizing incident at about mile 20. When the announcers saw the kids jumping up and down and pointing to Pops, they started their cheering over the loud speaker. "Pops is In The HOUSE!" And the crowd went wild. Dad smiled and picked up his pace, and the kids went out to meet him. As Dad crossed the first chip-reader, the announcers said, "Pops is Clark Hinckley from Salt Lake City, Utah!" And then as the grandchildren held Pops' hand across the finish line, the announcers began talking - over the speaker system - about how much they loved the SLC Olympics. I think Pops got more attention than any other runner, winners and Bart Yasso's wife included. It was pretty fantastic.

We hung around the finish area eating post-race snacks and then headed home for naps. Ada and Chris hosted a birthday party for all the March birthdays: me, Lizzie, and Sadie. Whew, what a day! Whew, what a weekend!

Pictures to come, as soon as those whose cameras were at the race download and disseminate their photos (Mom, Dad, Ada). In the meantime, if you're really curious, you can check out our official race photos at Brightroom Photography.