Hostess Celebration Running Party 2013!

My idea of a fun Friday night: friends, family, running, and Hostess. Seriously, does it get any better than that? The only thing missing was a concert with Mumford and Sons playing a concert in the driveway while we ran.

Friday night we had a running party to celebrate the return of Hostess. The invite went out to anyone interested. We had a really fun group of people show up for a good time. A couple dozen more people showed up after we took a group shot.

My daughter Kylee spent some time before the event decorating our aid station.

Dani did a little decorating herself. (Karma came back to catch her after this picture. This little beauty was up until 2:00am with a sick stomach. Diagnosis: Too Many Donuts Syndrome.)

Everyone brought a treat to add to the aid station on our driveway. Thankfully the majority of the high fructose corn syrup was Hostess.

I also filled a jug with Tailwind. I heard lots of favorable comments and the jug was empty by the end of the event.

Our course was a one mile loop around my house. It was cool seeing so many people running around my stomping ground. I am spoiled to have Zion National Park in my backyard.

I had so much fun hanging out with friends in a no-pressure, casual fun run.

I was happy that the Walsh's came. These amazing people worked the aid station at mile 83of the Zion 100 and had a huge cinnamon roll waiting for me when I got there. They are the definition of happiness, kindness, and fun.

Micah won the Sugar Slayer award at this past year's Baker's Dozen Half Marathon. Skillz.

Some crazy cat forgot to bring shoes to the run:

Bonus points awarded for this apparel:

My awesome wife got in 13 miles, including this one with Dani:

The time for the run was 8pm to midnight and everyone could run as far as they wanted. Some people ran a mile or two. Some people ran all four hours.

We were treated to a mighty splendid sunset:

I really loved running some miles with each of the kids.

Jackson is determined and hard working. He kept going almost the entire time and finished ten miles!

Around 11pm the crowd had thinned out and there were only around 15 of us still out running. Hanging out with a bunch of other runners definitely makes the time pass quicker.

I've run a few races with Susette from You'll Always Have My Heart. Susette and her daughter traveled all the way from northern Utah for the run. Wowzers. Her daughter made a distance PR of 11 miles!

I found some prizes at the thrift store for the man and woman who ran the farthest. The male award: a trophy of someone who looks like they're trying to jump. The female award: a glittery picture of a unicorn.

At the end of the run there were four of us who covered 18 miles.

My friend Steve won the pseudo-jumper trophy looking fresh enough that he could have easily kept running for many more hours.

The co-winners of the highly coveted glittery unicorn picture were Katrina (who drove from Vegas!) and our family friend Michelle.

We had a fun night. In related news, the Baker's Dozen Half Marathon is similar to this run except that it's a real race with a shirt, prizes, and a big race medal. (Last year's race report HERE.) I'm waiting back on final approval from the city but they've given me a tentative thumbs-up for December 14th. Can't wait.

Will we have another neighborhood running party again? Are Twinkies and Hostess Donettes the most artificial and delicious foods known to mankind? The answer to both of those questions is the same: a resounding YES!