Just when we thought Brooke was done racing...

While we were cheering on the BYU football team in South Bend, 

Brooke was running her very first marathon, being cheered on by strangers

 as she crossed the finish line in 3 hrs. 1 min, taking 1st place!

She decided just three days earlier to sign up to run the SoJo marathon on Saturday.

Since she is in phenominal shape and isn't running for the BYU team anymore (see Brooke's post)

she wanted to just see what it would be like to run a marathon.

She called us Wednesday night to make sure it was OK to pay the fee to register. 

 Of course, Dad thought it was a great idea!

Since she had never run a marathon before, she called her Uncle Gary and cousin Jason, 

who are both are excellent and experienced runners, for advice.

That was about the extent of her preparation for the race.

She drove all by herself to the race early Saturday morning. 

 No one else was going to run with her.  No one else could even go watch her.

  It was just Brooke, all by herself, running because she loves to run and she loves to run fast.

And that is exactly what she did.  

She was pacing herself for the first half of the race but then her watch died.

But she made friends with a group of guys that were running at the same pace

 so she just ran with them... for 26.2 miles.

Her goal was to break 3 hours. 

 She made one strategical error and stopped twice to go to the bathroom. 

Apparently, she should have timed it so she only stopped once.

So with that in mind, she is going to count it and is happy that she reached her goal!

Brooke and her marathon buddies who helped her pace,

which late in the race she left in the dust.

Happy to show off her medal and $300 gift card
 (which she gave back to keep her amateur status... 
just in case she decides to put her collegiate cleats back on someday.)

Yep, that's my Bear!  Gotta love her!

Celebrating with a bunch of strangers!

I couldn't be prouder of my Bear.  

Not because she ran really fast and won her first marathon,

although I think that is pretty cool.

 But because through all the years of training and racing, some good races and some bad, 

she has learned so many lessons by pushing herself to the limit,

 not only physically but emotionally and spiritually.

She has grown in ways that she never would have without those experiences.

She is tougher than anyone I know, and more dedicated and disciplined than I will ever be.

And through all the sacrifice, discipline and pain, little Brookie has become The Bear.

And this Momma Bear couldn't be prouder!

When she texted me these photos right after the race, 

I commented that I really liked her outfit that she was wearing 

(for years she has been sporting the Granite Bay uniform or BYU team gear.)

She quickly replied, "Not gonna lie, I probably spent more time picking out my outfit 

and making sure that it all coordinated than I did strategizing for the race!"

Ha! Ha!  And that's my Bear!