Burnin' Pavement: St. George Marathon- by Scott Buchanan

I signed up for the St. George Marathon not actually thinking I would get in based on the Lottery entry. I did however and I was very excited to try and beat the four hour mark.

That thought of finishing in under four hours pretty much ended in August when I was rushing to put on a shirt while running down the stairs. I slipped on some Fancy Nancy playing cards and landed on my hip.

I tried running many times but my hip would hurt so much I started to hate running because of the pain I would be in for the next 5 days. I went to the Sports Medicine Doc and he said I had a hip pointer.

• What Is A Hip Pointer Injury?

• A hip pointer injury is extremely painful, acute injury to the iliac crest of the pelvis. The injury causes bleeding into the abdominal muscles, which attach to the iliac crest. The bone and overlying muscle are often bruised, and the pain can be intense. Pain may be felt when walking, laughing, coughing, or even breathing deeply.

To make a long story even longer, I never really got into the training mode. The longest run I did was a half marathon and after that I couldn't run for two weeks. I guess you could say I have a very low tolerance for pain. Yes I am wimpy!

I called the St George Marathon people and they said that I couldn't postpone my registration until next year and there were not refunds. So I wasn't about to let $85 go to waste.

I told Alicia that my goal was to finish. I thought I would struggle and I knew I was in even more trouble when at the starting line they announced it was the "warmest start in St. George Marathon history".

I felt really good through the first 15 miles. In fact I was actually ahead of the four hour goal which probably attributed to me cramping up at mile 16.

I cramped in my left calf and both quads and from there I basically walked and jogged occasionally when I could. I was shocked at how many people were cramping up, passing out, getting an IV from the medical teams. I decided that my goal was to finish and I was going to do just that.

I walked and jogged the last ten miles. I stopped and stretched out four other runners that were cramping in hopes that it would bring good karma to me. Every time I tried running I would cramp up within ten steps.

It was 96 degrees when I was walking/jogging the last 3 miles. Some people were nice and brought treats to us. My favorite was the root beer popsicle that was handed to me on mile 25.

I am done with Marathons for a bit. Maybe I will stick to half marathons or if I am going to do another, maybe it will be one at sea-level during the winter.

Thank you to all my supporters especially my wife, kids, Roger & Sue, Landon & Sarah who waited for me to finish (in just under five hours, 4:56) in the horrible heat.

Mile 23-- jog. I was very excited to see Alicia, Brielle, Ava, Zachary, Roger and Sue.

Brielle and Ava in their Run Daddy Run shirts

Jogging to the finish line.

My better side - jogging to the finish line