Yuma Territorial Marathon

Marilynn and I got back from Yuma, Arizona this evening. We drove out there last Wednesday and Thursday to visit our daughter, Mary, and her family. While there, I ran the 1st Annual Yuma Territorial Marathon. I finished in 5:34:19, my fastest marathon time since Austin in 2004 (5:10:27). This was also my 50th marathon and I wore bib number 50 to commemorate the occasion. There were 53 finishers in the marathon and 110 in the half. No age group awards. The race started and finished in front of the Cocopah Casino in Yuma. The course was out and back along a major highway through the lettuce fields. Most of the course was flat and the weather was in the 40's, 50's and 60's - and, no humidity. I felt good during the run and Houston 6 days earlier never bothered me. Next is Waco on Sunday and I dread those steep hills from mile 14 to 24.

The drive to and from Yuma - After leaving Tucson and headed for Yuma, we drove into a sand storm. At first, visibility went down to about a 100 yards. Then, visibility went to zero and I was in the left lane on I-10. Just as I got into the right lane, there was a wreck in the left lane and I barely missed it. After we got out of the sand storms, it starting raining. As we got closer to Yuma, the wind picked up and it was hard keeping the car on the road. Went went around 4 18-wheelers that were blown over in the highway and another which had left the road. Yesterday evening on the way back, we passed a bad wreck just south of El Paso. I saw on the news last night that a couple were killed in the wreck. Today, we drove from Van Horn to Huntsville and it rained almost the whole way. Near Sonora on I-10, the rain got so heavy that I could see nothing and I got off the road. As we got closer to Sonora, it started hailing and the hail was one or two inches thick on the highway. It was like driving on ice. We passed several cars that slid off the road and wrecked. We were glad to make it back to Huntsville safely.