With each step, Kate DeAngelo made sure she was processing her surroundings.

There was the Palais Garnier, the setting for The Phantom of the Opera, grandiose as it was 150 years ago.

She passed the Louvre, home of Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, and of course, the Eiffel Tower stood tall over it all. In the dark Paris sky, the Olympic flame was a sight to behold.

DeAngelo, a medical laboratory scientist at St. Luke’s Magic Valley, was far from home, but she was doing what she loved — running. It’s what brought her to Paris, a 10K held on the Olympic course between the men’s and women’s marathons.

“I kinda had to pinch myself during the race, being present in the moment was really important,” DeAngelo said.