Chelsea Smith, Brigham Young University Hawaii cross country runner and defending NCAA II women's cross country individual champion, took first place in the Deseret Morning News/KJZZ TV women's marathon in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday, July 24.
This was only Smith's second marathon - and the first one she finished - but it was a spectacular first finish. Smith outpaced the second-place runner, Julie Thomas of Holladay, Utah, by a full minute and 35 seconds, completing the 26.2-mile course in two hours, 49 minutes and four seconds.
"The pain was great and I wanted to stop," Smith admitted at the finish line. "There was a runner behind me named Scott, pushing me the whole way. I told him that if he wanted, we could stop by the 7-Eleven. It was right there. I was so all over getting a Slurpee. I would have stopped if he'd let me. But my competitive nature took over and I kept going."
The runners faced a couple unexpected obstacles in their race to the finish. "The hardest part for me was the wind," Thomas said. "I'll bet it cut everyone's time by three minutes or more. It was right there in your face. It was a big-time killer."
The wind, however, was not a factor for Smith. "I actually didn't mind the wind," she said. "It made me not get as sweaty."
The challenge for Smith was the 4,330-foot altitude of Salt Lake City - 1,958 higher than her hometown of Spokane, Washington, and nearly the full 4,330 feet higher than BYU-Hawaii. "I definitely felt it," she said. "The air is a lot thinner."
In spite of the altitude, Smith persevered with a positive attitude. She described her run as "something that hurts so bad at the time, but you love it at the same time. It's really weird."
The top prize in the women's division was $1,847, every penny of which Smith relinquished in accordance with NCAA II regulations. The money was subsequently rewarded to Thomas.
Smith suggested that running the marathon and the recovery time necessary will affect her preparation for the upcoming cross country season. Nonetheless, she is excited to return to BYU-Hawaii as a junior to defend her title this fall.
"I love BYU-Hawaii," she said, "and I can't wait to get back to eating mangoes, papayas, and pineapples."