The Whole Damned Thing

It is like what Valerie said to me as we drove out of Escalante:  "When this day started I would never have expected this."  I agreed.  "This," was a win in the Escalante Canyons Marathon.  Not a win in the women's division, not a win in the age group, but a win overall.  The first finisher in any category.  EDO won the whole damned thing.

It is like what one of the race organizers said when EDO crossed the finished line:  "When I saw her crying, I almost started crying myself."  I agreed.  The tears were tears of joy (and probably of relief).  It was a brutal course, running on the highway from Boulder to Escalante, Utah.  The road coming out of the river canyon has a warning sign—14% grades—and they are sustained.  It was a grind.  EDO displayed remarkable mental toughness.

The race offered a pot of prize money.  As the overall winner, EDO took home a good portion of it.  We joked about her quitting her real job, but even better would be a sponsorship.  HOKA are you listening?