Gearing Up
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 | News | No Comments
Well, the snow is starting to melt, the sun is coming out more often, and team Brenchley is gearing up for a great season! We have spent the last five years running road races together, and now it is time to step it up a notch. This year, Brian and I are going to take on the world of triathlons. And boy, are we excited!
We reached an important milestone two days ago when I was able to test our new boat and harness system for the first time. It was awesome! I designed a harness to wear when pulling the boat in the swimming portion of our races that wraps around my waist. My sweet mom built it for us out of a durable vinyl, webbing, and Velcro. Connected to the harness is a good length of bungee cord that is long enough so my feet are two or three feet from the boat when I am swimming. I have it connected to the boat on both sides so that my feet don’t get caught as I kick. I used climbing grade carabiners to connect the rope to the boat, but tying the rope to the handles would work just as well. However, the carabiners do make it easier to get the rope on and off.
I was very surprised at how relatively easy it was to pull a boat with a 120 lb person inside while swimming. I felt a good tug when starting out and when turning at each end of the pool, but overall, it was a relatively easy thing to do. The Sports Academy and Racquet Club in Logan, Utah is letting me use their pool for training. They leave two lane lines out, which allows me a bigger area in which to swim and to turn around. My boat is about eight feet long, but I can turn it around easily in a space that is two lanes wide.
This Friday Brian is coming up and we get to see how it is really going to work. He is a little heavier than my friend who helped me on the maiden voyage. I don’t anticipate it being much more difficult. Either way, it’s going to be fun!
St. George Marathon – We Did It!
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 | News | 1 Comment
This last weekend was the culmination of months of dreaming, planning, organizing and training. We not only completed the St. George Marthon in St. George, Utah, but also completed the last leg of the Utah Grand Slam. The Grand Slam is a circuit of four Utah marathons, each which must be completed before the title of “slammer” can be earned. Through the pain, through rain, and through the burn, we completed four marathons in ten weeks and have earned for ourselves the official title as “slammers”. What a ride it has been!
The early morning air was warm as we left our hotel around 5 A.M. on race day, but quickly cooled as we neared the start line. A light rain began to fall as we waited for the race to start. As we ran and the sun slowly came up, the rain came down a little harder. We had a good rain for at least 20 miles. It was fairly cold, but Brian still wanted me to pour water on his head at the aid stations to keep him cool. That is one of my favorite parts!
Around mile three we got a flat tire. For the next 23 miles Brian endured the beating of rough roads on a flat tire that wore him out pretty quickly and bruised his side against the lateral support on the chair…But he was so strong. A few times I had to stop to rub his side to ease the pain or readjust him in his chair. It was at these times that we had our most tender and bonding moments. We cried together, we planned, and we encouraged each other. About ten miles from the end Brian felt like he couldn’t go on. I told him that there were only two ways to end this race. Either I could put him on the van that picked up runners unable to complete the race, and he wouldn’t finish, wouldn’t recieve a medal, wouldn’t get the t-shirt, and wouldn’t finish the Grand Slam; or, we could run. With determination in his eyes that ran much deeper than his physical pain, Brian motioned for me to run on. So we did.
Through the rain and the pain we ran, passing more people than we ever have in any other marathon. People who had already passed us. I ran faster for longer than I ever have before, kept cool by the drenching rain and motivated by my dear friend. We both wanted to finish the race as quickly as possible. We completed the first half of the race in about 2:06:00 and the second half in about 1:56:00, finishing with a personal best of 4:02:16. We beat our previous PR by 16 minutes. Not bad for two rain-drenched, flat-tire runners that had to stop at least a dozen times along the way. It was an incredible experience.
We hope to do this same race in the future with a time of 3:42:00 or better. We can do it. Just watch us.
We want to give deep and heart-felt thanks to all of the staff and volunteers who were involved at every level with this year’s St. George Marathon for making this race one full of such great memories for us. From our sweet friend Kami Ellsworth, the race operations manager, to the volunteers at the aid stations, and from the police officers directing traffic to the little girls giving us popsicles out by mile 18. We thank you for giving us the chance to do what everyone else gets to do; just run our race. Thank you!
We look forward to what next year will bring.
Brian and Tyler
Team Brenchley
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 | News | No Comments
Team Brenchley is a two-man road running team made up of Brian Brenchley and Tyler Sorensen, both of Utah. These friends have been running together since 2004, supported by many wonderful family members and friends. This season is their fifth season of running. In just five races in 2008 they will have run more miles than in the four seasons and 18 previous races. Team Brenchley will finish their fourth marathon in two and a half months time when they head to southern Utah for the St. George Marathon on October 4, 2008. This will complete the race circuit called the Utah Grand Slam. They will have then earned the coveted title of “slammers”.
Top of Utah Marathon
Saturday, September 20th, 2008 | News | 4 Comments
Nordic Track Top of Utah Marathon: Bib number 866 Brian Brenchley crossed the finish line at 11:25 AM with a time of 04:18:11.
Tyler Sorensen & Brian Brenchley at Mile 20 Top of Utah Marathon