10 Reasons to Run the St. George Marathon

I'm tired of writing about the Paleo Challenge, so I'll write about what's coming up this Saturday. 5 days to go, so definitely a taper week of only a couple easy runs. Ahhhh. So, why do I run the St. George Marathon? (This is my 11th year, and I actually ask myself that question in the middle of some long runs) . . .
1. It's a day for "ordinary people to do something extraordinary."
2. Nice volunteers cheer, give High 5s, and hand us drinks, fruit, Gu, ice chips, cool washcloths at mile 24, and Popsicles.
3. We get the road closed and don't need to dodge vehicles :)
4. Signing up gives us goals and plans, organizes our training, pretty much all summer long.
5. We get beautiful views of sunrise near Snow Canyon State Park, the volcano, and sunny St. George
6. After we finish Veyo Hill (mile 7) and the next few uphill miles, we get lots of fun downhill in the second half.
7. It's fun to be a part of a sea of runners and the running community (twice I've done it with kids, and thousands of other runners give kudos to the kids)
8. It's inspiring: for instance, to see a runner pushing a wheelchair "runner" up hills, to see one runner who carries a big American flag, to see runners assisting blind runners, and on and on.
9. The homemade signs make us laugh. My sister Jody and I always say that all the signs are for us, like the "Go Grandpa, Go" and "Run for Rabies" ones.
10. For the medal, for the chocolate milk, for the red, white and blue Popsicles, and, after 10 St. George Marathons, for the annual free pasta dinner :)