Salt Lake City Marathon

Every year, my dad and I like to participate in the Bike Tour of the Salt Lake Marathon. It's a super fun tradition to share with my daddy. The Bike Tour starts an hour before the runners, so we had to be at the starting line at the dark and cold hour of 6 am. We made sure to bundle since it was such a chilly day!

We got in line with the rest of the bikers and left the starting line in batches. They changed the course a couple of years ago, so now we tackle four big hills right at the beginning, it's a pretty rude wake up call for my sleepy legs.

There were numerous times were I wanted to stop to take pictures of the beautiful course, We start at the U of U, ride all through downtown, sugar house and holiday, so we get awesome views of our fun city, right as the sun is rising. It took so much self control to not stop my bike every 5 minutes to snap a photo. I did stop once, when I was in Sugar House Park, and the sun was rising behind the majestic mountains, I just couldn't resist snapping a quick pic, which, of course, does not do the scene justice.

Both dad and I were super anxious to get to the finishing line, not because our legs or arms were tired, but because our entire bodies were FROZEN! It was the coldest Marathon Race to date for us and for 90% of the ride, I could not feel below my hips, which made it extremely hard to pedal, Dad said it was the coldest he has ever been, which is intense since he never,ever gets cold ever.

Once we crossed the finished line and received our medals, we headed to a spot in the sun to sit down, un-thaw, and enjoy a post race snack. We sat and enjoyed the sun for a long time before my dad set off on his bike back to the starting line to pick up our car. We have learned in the past, it's a bad idea for me to attempt to go back with him. Even though he is 69 and I'm 29, he is still in much better shape than me, even though I work out hard!

Leading up to the race, Dad and I went on a few practice rides to make sure I still remembered how to use a bike since it had been a hot minute since I had been biking. Dad would come down to my place and we would bike 30 or so miles on the Murdock Canal Trail. The trail had some stunning, spring views full of sunshine and blossoms as we zoomed along. Since we weren't up against any deadline, I stopped plenty of times to take pictures of what we were witnessing on our ride. I also took a few pics on the go from my bike.

I love sharing this fun and rewarding hobby with my dad. It's so fun to bond over long relaxing practice rides, and share memories of freezing race days.

Love you dad! Thanks for sharing your passion with me!