This years family reunion was a crazy one. We decided several months ago that we were going to run the Red Rock Relay as a family and we did! Thursday night we all arrived at the
cabin at Brian Head ski resort (thanks to Katie's brother David and his wife Tiffany) and settled in for the night. Early Friday morning we started getting up and ready for the 186 mile relay which was run by 12 runners: Van 1 (Mom, Marc, Katie, Billy, Heidi, and David) and Van 2 (Joe, Becky, Ryan, Karen, Cory and Mike).
At 7:40 am Mom started up the ski lift to the top of the mountain to begin the race. She did great even after a little fall where she bruised her wrist and tore up some of the soft tissue. After a quick run to the ER (thanks to Dad) to make sure nothing was broken she was back in the van and ready to go. Everyone did a great job running their legs as we ran through the night and into Saturday. All of the runners met at the end so everyone could run across the finish line with Mike while Dad took pictures. It was a really cool experience and I think that everyone felt a huge sense of accomplishment and relief as we crossed that line.
We can't forget all of the people that made it possible for us to run. Thanks to Tiffany, Holly, Caroline, Jayna, and Dad for taking care of all of the kids and for being so supportive. Holly, Caroline and Jayna really worked hard to keep the kids happy, safe and occupied while Dad was our road side assistant and basically followed us along the whole race providing support (and chocolate milk). A big thanks again from all of the racers.
Saturday night after the race everyone went back to the cabin to spend some time together as family and friends. We ate pizza and snacked on food while we talked about how sore we were and how hard the race was. It was nice to relax and enjoy each others company. I think everyone slept hard Saturday night. Sunday morning Dad, Katie, Caroline, Joe and others made a great breakfast of blueberry pancakes, bacon, eggs and Joe's super special buttermilk syrup. The kids played while everyone talked and stretched and we even watched a movie (The Blindside). I think everyone was so tired that they didn't want to pack up and leave. Finally, everyone decided it was time to go home around mid afternoon. Before we left we took a couple of pictures, had a family meeting to get started on next years reunion and then we parted ways.
Thanks to everyone for participating and making this years family reunion happen. We really missed everyone that couldn't make it and look forward to seeing you next year. It was a unique and challenging reunion, but fun and rewarding too. Good job Everyone!
