Saturday, April 18th I ran the 6th Salt Lake City Marathon. I ran by myself because Vijay has a stress fracture in his hip. The weather was perfect. Not cold, not hot, with a slight breeze near noon. I met some great folks along the route as our group leapfrogged each other along the way. I met three people from Germany, a gal from Los Angeles and a few others. I finished the first half in 2:15, my second fastest 1/2 marathon time ever, including 1/2 marathon races. Almost from the beginning my hip flexors were tight and they continued to worsen the further I ran. I stuck to my plan to only walk through the aid stations, but during the last mile I walked two extra times for a hundred yards or so each time. At first I thought I could finish with a PR, but as time went on I knew that wasn't going to happen. Later I thought I could PR for this course and then finally I felt I'd be doing great to finish upright. I finally finished in 5:03. My Abbe was waiting near the finish line with our daughter, Ellie. Ellie snuck through the fence and dragged me over the finish line. Vijay had been taking pictures of me every couple of miles since the 1/2 way point and was also at the finish line. Like every marathon I've run that emotional high accompanied me across the finish line. This time my quads and hip flexors were really sore for a few days and my quads are still a bit tender. Abbe and I celebrated Saturday evening with burgers and fries at Five Guys. It was good and worth it!!