Platte River Half Marathon

Good, unflattering, & hilarious

I was a little frustrated with the Platte River Half Marathon official race photo situation this year. Their photographer was only offering prints for purchase; there was no digital option. But then I politely emailed him about it, and he sent me these for free.

Here you’ll see just how in shape Nick is: He smiles and waves throughout the run while I grimace and grumble. It’s pretty funny, actually.

All photos by CG Photography

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Here we have Nicholas super jazzed about life and spotting a photographer on the route. We also have Vanessa looking spontaneously like she’s gearing up for fisticuffs while also passing out. Nailed it.

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“Oh, yeah, there’s a photographer. Cool. I’ll attempt a smile-type thing on my face.”

Platte River Half Marathon

Finally managed one! Nick is proud.

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The 13th mile was uphill, and then the last .1 towards the finish line was nice and flat. I decided to gun it for my medal. I’m loving how ripped my arms look, but not diggin’ the cellulite all that much. I contemplated photoshopping it, but that would’ve been dishonest, so here you go. [Nick is still happy as a clam!]

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This one is my personal favorite: The Karate Chop + Sneeze. What even is happening?! It’s like I’m using all of my energy to will my legs and arms to keep moving. That might actually be quite accurate.

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And here you can see my body finally relaxing into the finish line… with visions of hotdogs and potato chips dancing in my head.

This 13.1 was difficult for me for a number of reasons, and it definitely shows in these photos! I had a shorter training schedule than usual, focused more on mileage than speed, was under some stress with looming medical things, and was battling negative self-talk (especially having Nick run alongside me for the entire race and wondering if I was boring him with my slow pace).

Us at the finish of the Platte River Half Marathon

In the end, though, this was my 6th official half marathon race, and my 9th 13-miles-or-longer run! I felt proud that I hadn’t hyped this race up in my mind. I saw this as a fun and creative way to squeeze in another long run, and not as a race time to define me.

Who knows what’ll be next!