Well before her 50th birthday, Sheila Sullivan knew exactly what she wanted to do to celebrate the big Five OH!  She wanted to run a 50K. 1K for each of her   50 years!  As the date approached she set up her plans to run the Zion 50K in southern Utah on April 9, 2016, a challenging, scenic run through the southern Utah desert adjacent to Zion National Park. She recruited her friend, Stacy Ferner to do the 50K with her and her daughter Lindsey, her sister and sister-in-law would run the 1/2 marathon.

Zion was beautiful!  Due to a new start / finish location, the race was changed to a 55K.

The weather started to turn rough in the evening as the director was giving a course description, warning that the course might change. What  started as a 50K, rain forced course change to a 55K, final GPS distance 28 miles.

The race was delayed 2 hours so they could mark a new course that was safer.  They couldn't get vehicles up the mountain of the original location and the loop up top had some very steep drop offs.  They said it wouldn't be safe to run up there.  Prior to the race they got some scary emails saying rain was in the  forecast which could cause muddy and hazardous conditions.  They mentioned having  5 pounds of mud caked on each of our shoes if the weather was bad!  "I thought it was an exaggeration, but definitely not!!"  They did a great job  marking the course.  Luckily they had a plan B! 

Despite bad weather on race day Sheila said it was lots of fun.  "We had many miles where if we tried to run, we slid and fell in the mud.  We tried "mud skating" but that always ended in falling.  Every step we took we felt like there were suction cups on the bottom of our shoes, that combined with the sticky  mud made for a lot of walking!  A section at the top of the mountain was 9 miles.  I think it took us 3 hours to do that loop!!!  After that muddy loop which was halfway, Stacy decided to drop out. She had  a problem with her leg and didn't think it would be a good idea to risk getting hurt, plus it was rainy and cold at  that point. She was with a group of people that hitchhiked and got a ride back down to the start!"

" I had to keep going because the whole plan was to run 50k for 50 years.  I kept going and tried to run as much as I could.  I wasn't tired because  we never got a chance to run much because of the mud and the massive hills.  So, I tried really hard the last half.  I passed at least 20 people so it was motivating to keep going and try to catch someone else.  Most of the people we had been running with decided to drop out which was too bad.  The second half was a lot better.  I ran with a guy for a while and we   kept each other motivated.  There is so much camaraderie at a race like this.  I wanted to meet up with all the people from the race after because everyone was so nice and encouraging.  During the roughest parts when we were slipping and falling, we were all just laughing so hard !  We had to make light of things because it beat complaining.  No one expected the conditions to be as bad as they were except maybe the locals."  

1.    You're less fearful. 2. You're not afraid to have opinions. 3. You know yourself. 4. You have a greater appreciation of life. 5. It's easier to laugh at yourself. 6. It's easier to laugh at others. 7. It's easier to take life less seriously. 8. You stop caring what other people think. 9. You stop sweating the small stuff. 10. You have a lifetime of wisdom to help you make decisions. 11. You are more at peace. 12. You're less critical of your body and weight. 13. You know that eating right and exercise are the best medicine. 14. You embrace your imperfections. 15. You make jokes more often. 16. You get to use the excuse: "I'm set in my ways". 17. You have a reason for forgetting things. 18. You have a reason for losing things. 19. You have a reason for telling the same stories. 20. You can be as grumpy as you wish. 21. You can learn to dance. 22. You can learn to sing. 23. No one cares if you're a bad singer. 24. People expect you to be a bad dancer. 25. Your inner confidence shines. 26. You can go home early without offending anyone. 27. You can enjoy being settled in life. 28. With kids out of the house, you can be more spontaneous. 29. Your kids stop expecting big gifts from you. 30. AARP discounts are everywhere. 31. Other age-related discounts and free stuff for seniors. 32. Younger people will help you more. 33. You have more time to explore new hobbies. 34. You can wear red hats that don't match your clothes. 35. You can wear glitter or funny sweaters and laugh at yourself .36. You can wear glitter or funny sweaters in public with pride. 37. You can go gray with your hair. 38. Retired life is just around the corner. 39. Relaxation. 40. Nap time is fun again. 41. Waking up too early and watching a sunrise. 42.Resting feels natural. 43. Buying more comfortable clothing. 44. Fewer comparisons to younger folks. 45. The amazing things you've seen that younger people have not.  46. Your wisdom.  47. Your advice. 48. Your ability to let go. 49. Your ability to forgive others. 50. Your ability to forgive yourself.

Happy Birthday to those celebrating birthdays in May & June