Siblings survive the Race to Robie Creek

BOISE, Ida.-Payback is a bummer! Christy House, who ran the Race to Robie Creek half marathon in Boise, Ida. side-by-side with her brother, Mitch Davis of Caldwell, Ida. on April 20, can testify to that. "When my brother turned 40, I thought it would be fun to do a 10K together so I signed him up. He thought it was terrible and has been looking for a way to get back at me. So, nine years later he signed me up for the Robie Creek Half Marathon. It's one of the toughest halfs ever. It is 8.5 miles up and then the remaining is downhill. It is AWFUL," House said.

House and Davis, at ages 47 and 49, respectively, have done several runs together over the years, including 5Ks, 10Ks and half marathons. They seem to take unique pleasure in challenges one another with worst courses imaginable.

The Race to Robie Creek is described by race organizers as "the toughest half marathon in the northwest." The starting line is just above 2,500 feet above sea level and runners reach an elevation of about 4,700 feet above sea level at the highest point in the race, as they trek through the sagebrush-covered hill area known as Rocky Canyon.

Davis said he signed up for the run as payback for the earlier "birthday" 10K that ran through a Walla Walla vineyard.

"We both got lost and ran more like 12K and it was hilly and awful," he said.

House said she started running in 2007 when her mother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.

"I needed a way to deal with my grief and have stayed with it since," she said.

House said she doesn't have any plans for a full marathon, but then, who knows what Davis might sign her up for?