Denver Marathon

State number 3 down.

Completed: October 19, 2008

People warned me that this would be a tough one because of the altitude. I was worried but trucked on to the mile high city. I actually took the week before the marathon off from running. I was beginning to feel the wear of running everyday and was getting quite burnt out. I think that this totally worked to my advantage. Also with the help of the Nike + invention, which completely revolutionized my training, I was well prepared for this race. 

It was so amazing. I completely recommend this race to anyone. It was beautiful, clean, and the course was almost flat with at most a couple of hills. The only complaint that i have is that, and this only happened once, runners were stopped by cops to let traffic go by with much dismay by runners trying to make time. I myself had a goal of 5 hours. I had signed up for the pace group and actually stayed almost 10 minutes ahead of them for most of the race. I was so pissed when they passed me at mile 24. But was very happy with my time of 5 hours and 3 minutes which is 22 minutes faster than my personal best for the marathon! How exciting right? 

Seriously though, this marathon was perfect. The course, the recovery time, the freebees. I loved every aspect of this place. I even want to move denver now. Ugh it was everything. I cant stop talking about how fabulous the past four days have been. So I'll just leave you with the links to my pictures...

Pre race day/Race day

Recovery Time/Amazing Denver

I actually had so much fun training for and running this marathon that I'm already researching my next couple marathons. I think that since I only did one this year, that I'm going to do 3 next year. Cincinnati on May 3, Seattle on June 27, and the USMC in DC in October.

St Louis Half Marathon

No pics :(

Completed April 19, 2008

This is a tricky one. I had 2 marathons under my belt and thought "hey i can run a half in my sleep" well I learned very quickly that not training fully and running a half marathon is pretty much  just as painful as completely training and running the full. Ran it in 2'19 so thats something to be proud of. The race was followed by a Cardinals game and a free hot dog at Busch Stadium. Yum.

St. Patty's 5 Mile Run

Completed March 17, 2008

Race in downtown St Louis with my friends Brittany and Sarah. 5 Miles. A little chilly, but the cause was worth it...beer.

Memphis, TN Marathon

Completed December 1, 2007

Ran half of the marathon with my friend Sarah Wilson then she was done and had to run the second half by myself. Started having hip troubles at around 17-19. My hip started really bothering me around 21 and thats when I started walking. Met up with my boyfriend Dan at mile 23 and he walked with me for 3 miles to keep me motivated. Ran that last mile and was taken away in a wheelchair. Memphis was kind of dirty and the stations ran out of stuff before people could get to them. The sights were pretty cool though. Ran past the zoo, the pyramid, the famous elvis statue, and more. The race ended in the Cardinals triple A team's stadium. It was a sight to be held. I ran the race in a Mizzou jersey because they were playing Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship that night. Unfortunately they lost, but the day lives on...

For Pictures, Click here.

St Louis Marathon

Completed April 12, 2007

Ran with Katie Casper. Pretty much the most amazing and painful experience I've ever felt. First 20 were a breeze, hit the wall at 23, runner's high at 25. Amazing. and Beautiful. I've seen a side of St. Louis that I've never seen before. Ran through the Brewery, Forest Park, Delmar, Clayton, by WashU. Post Race, went to the Cardinals game. Got drunk off of one beer ;)

For pictures, click here.

A Little Background Information

My name is Ashley Scroggins and I'm a pretty all or nothing type of person. I started getting into running when I was younger growing up on military bases and observing the Marines PT. It became an after school ritual to go on little runs with my pop when he got off duty. He then started signing me up for 5k's (Keiki run in Hawaii, and the Medal of Honor runs in TN) starting at 9 years old. In high school, I was in sports like softball and basketball till I was recruited by a good friend to join in on all the Cross country action for the couple of weeks left in between my seasons to give our girls team a chance at state. A chance that never happened due to a tie and a boring story that I'd rather not go into. I'll admit that I'm not very fast or amazing at what I do, but I do have drive and determination and I usually wont stop something until I've completed it. 

My first goal started out with just completing "a" marathon. It was a lifelong goal that seemed less and less attainable the less athletic my physique became in college. Until I met Tom Mohr, my manager at Old Chicago. As negative as the story is behind his words toward me, it was the most motivating experience and the full reason I attribute completing the St. Louis marathon to him. "I told you I could do it."

After Completing my first marathon, finding out that its not impossible, and how it was a great way to explore the city youre running in, I quickly evolved my goal into running a marathon in every state. It truly is an amazing tour of the world that you have to work for and you feel completely accomplished at the end. 

See you at the finish line.

Smash