The 2008 St. George marathon caught us by surprise due to a rainstorm which was predicted to not come until the evening after the marathon. Waiting at the start was very cold, and one of the Firemen there watching the fires told me that someone had said to him “I will pay you $500 if I can wear that coat for an hour.” There were garbage bags available for us to wear at the start, which I took advantage of.
After starting the race, the bag quickly became a personal steam bath, so I tore the front of it open to let in some air, then it became a parachute. With that gone after about mile 3, hypothermia began to show.
It was a good race, my best time at this race ever. At the end of it, I fell on the ground and had to be carried over to the medic tent by a giant national guard member. After a few minutes in the tent, my body temperature made it up to 94 degrees, then they could get a reading. When the temperature reached 97 degrees, I was kicked out of the medical tent to make room for the others waiting outside.
My son ran the race that year also, he didn’t need the medical tent. Walking out to see him, I hoped for some hearty congratulations on my PR at this race.
He looked at me and said “why are your lips all blue”?
Frank has run 103 marathons and 3 ultras. He considers any exercise that is not running to be a waste of time. His running music of choice is Nightwish, though he is also a huge fan of Cher. Frank currently lives with his wife in West Jordan, Utah.
Race Directors Note: Frank is a good personal friend that I have known for many years. We currently run together on a weekly basis, and I have run several marathons with him. Through these many interactions I have heard many of the stories that we are sharing on this blog, and I thought it was about time for the rest of the world to hear them. So I hope you all enjoy Fridays with Frank.
-Andrew
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