Runner of the Week: Mary Christensen

This week's Runner of the Week is Mary Christensen.  She has been running for a year and a half now.  It all started when she played volleyball a couple years ago.  The cross country coach would come in while they were practicing and he kept insisting that Mary join the team.  She decided that she would join it and has been running consistently ever since.  The only exception is when she broke her toe in three different places because of accidentally running into a wall.  Because of this incident, she didn't run for about five months, but she got right back on track after it healed.

BYU Invitational

Mary's family definitely supports her running.  Before her races, her dad looks up statistics to show her who she needs to beat in the next race.  It's always an exciting time.  She is greatly encouraged by her family.  

Region 7 Championship, 2013

Several months ago, Mary ran in the Region 7 Championship race and took first place! What a great accomplishment.

Region 7 Championship, 2013

In the beginning of August of this year, Mary ran in the Pre-region race.  It was the first race of the season and is the race that determines who will be on the Varsity team and who will be on the JuniorVarstiy team. The Varsity team is the group of the top 7 racers for that season. 

Pre-Region, 2013

Mary's favorite race was the Bob Firman race in Idaho.  She took 8th place.  The reason it was her favorite race is because it was just a great overall experience.  Everyone had a great attitude and people were cheering the racers on.  It was a fun race and Mary is glad she got to participate in it.

Bob Firman Invitational, 2013

Mary's advice to other runners is to eat as healthy as you can.  It gives you more energy while you run and helps keep you feeling good.  Mary says that when she eats bad, it makes her feel sick, which makes her not run very well.  This is probably true of a lot of other runners as well.  Mary suggests drinking Gatorade after the race to help with dehydration. 

Mary says that she probably wouldn't run as much if her coach wasn't there calling her up and telling her that she needs to run. She is grateful for the accountability and is glad she decided to join the cross country team. 

Hit and Run 5K, 2013

On Saturday, October 12th, my younger sister and I participated in the Hit and Run 5K in Salt Lake City.  It was so much fun!  It was the first 5K we did together, and it was a great experience! Even though it wasn't the type of race to try to get a good running time, it was an experience that I'm glad we didn't miss out on! 

Sabrina and me before the race!

Before the race started, they had music playing that was getting everyone pumped up and ready to run!  People were dancing and doing jumping jacks, as well as talking about how fun this race was going to be!  The speaker was so enthusiastic that it was easy for us to get even more excited. We were ready to do this! 

Gathered at the starting line

Aaaaaaand we're off!!!

Running together just after the race started.

We had to run through a pit of foam, as well as try
to dodge all the huge red balls in our way!

We had to try not to get knocked into the water
by the giant, spinning red balls!

There were six obstacles we could run through. (We were not required to run through them if we didn't want to, but that's the point of this race, so why not?!)  Each one of the obstacles had unique aspects to them. My favorite one was the third obstacle, where we had to jump across several of these huge balls, almost like yoga balls. Even though I fell off, it was still pretty fun to try to do.

We did it!!

One thing that made this race fun was having my sister with me while we ran.  I completed all my other 5K's by myself, so it was a treat to have someone to be with the whole time.  This race would be a really fun group activity! But whether you do it with a group or by yourself, I'd definitely recommend it!