The Wasatch Back Relay

It is over! Whew, are we ever glad! Dad and I had the great opportunity to see much of the big relay that Joni and Jesse participated in. It was way impressive and fun to be part of. We saw Joni receive her first hand off on Friday night about 7:45 p.m. It was up on the north side of Pineview. The race actually started in Logan early in the morning, but the first 6 of their 12 man team started there. Joni was runner #8 and Jesse runner #9. They both were looking at about 3.5 miles.By the time Joni began the evening weather was coming on, so it made the run pretty nice weather wise. Both she and Jesse had this nice weather and a pretty level running leg. We watch Joni pass to Jesse and Jesse to his bother, Chris. By then it was around the south side of the lake and going up Snow Basin and over Trappers Loop and on toward Morgan and Hennefer. Joni's next run started at 4 a.m. after sleeping for maybe 2 hours. This run would be 7 miles. One big hitch: just before handing off to Jesse on this leg, Joni's knee gave out on her. This meant pain to Joni. We didn't watch this night time run because we had the little kids and they slept at our house. Half of the runners went to Brad's house to try to get some sleep before their afternoon run. We went to Heber to watch the rest of the race. Joni started her run about 2:45 p.m. on the south end of Heber near Dear Creek Res. Yes it was HOT! This would be a 6 mile run of moderate difficulty. However with Joni's hurting knee, it made it a very difficult run. We drove along with her, passed her and waited for her to get to us and kept doing that until she finally handed off to Jesse at the Wasatch Park. I must say this was a difficult thing to watch. I just wanted to put Joni in the car and drive her to the exchange point. She wasn't running in her true form. She was favoring her hurt knee. I thought she wouldn't be able to make it, but SHE DID! I was never so glad to see her pass off to Jesse! Tears, pain, and gratitude that it was over! Then away went Jesse running UP the mountain. It was 3.5 miles of very difficult altitude ascent. He went from 5700 ft. elevation to 7200 ft. We followed him along and were amazed at him!!! He ran all the way! What's more, he made incredible time. I could not believe him. We watched the runners until about 6:30 and then went to Brad and Carolyn's house for a nice barbeque with them. The little kids had come to the end of their desire to sit in the car. So we weren't able to see them all cross the finish line, but they made it! 39 hours, I believe. I can't remember the milage, but Joni and Jesse can comment and tell. It was an amazing experience and we are ultra proud of Joni and Jesse. They accomplished a great task! Yes they won! Anyone who does something like this is a winner! Hooray again for Joni and Jesse! xoxoxo Mom