Race for the Cure 2013: Family & Friends Edition!

I ran another 5k, wahoo! For those of you keeping track (that should be everyone...) this was my fourth 5k in the last three years and NOT as previously thought, my fastest. After a little bit of independent fact-checking (aka I looked at the blog from last year's 5k) my time this year was seven seconds slower than last year's... luckily it's still about ten minutes faster than what I was anticipating considering how flipping tired I was, so I'll take it!

This year brought all sorts of awesome people out to the Race for the Cure, which was really fun.

Some of the gang getting ready for the looong walk to the start line. I believe deeply in a good, solid warm-up walk of a little over a mile before you do any strenuous walking or running [and also the shuttle sounded crowded and also like it left before we got there :)]. I like Holly's go-get-'em attitude in this shot!!

 We all hurried to the start line and had just enough time for my mom to take this picture of me before I handed her the camera and partied on out. (P.S. I like how the hair from some lady behind me makes it look like I'm sporting a randomly messy bump-it style with my braids. Why not??)

 We all (politely!) elbowed our way into the starting mix and off we went! The runners that started out together were: Myself, Kautri, Grace, Aleesha, Holly, Madi, Jeni, Emily, and K. K was obviously a superstar and ended up finishing in right around 20 minutes (and then came back to run the last little bit again with his wife!). As expected, Kautri kept me going at a much faster pace than I would have opted for on my own, and we took turns with Jeni and Emily being a little ahead for motivational purposes :). The four of us ended up finishing in 29:22, wooo! (Although I think Jeni actually sprinted faster and beat us by a few seconds...) Aleesha came in just a bit behind us, following shortly by Holly and Madi, and then Grace just a few minutes after that! Go team!

Finding each other in the crowds without cell phones was tricky, here's the group we rounded up at one point for a picture: (L to R): Kautri, Emily, Holly, Madi, me, and Jeni. Seriously, seriously love these girls. 

After some much needed water, a few of us headed back along the route in search of this cute boy:

 Clyde, who was having all sorts of fun (and occasional breaks) walking the 5k with Grandma Pam! (I also have to give props to my awesome mom; she walked another 5k for her school a couple of weeks prior. Take that, Multiple Sclerosis!!)

It was quite the undertaking for this kiddo (did I mention the extra mile he had to walk before it even started??) but I'm so, so proud of him for hanging in there! And not one to rest on his laurels, he went out in his soccer game that afternoon and scored a stellar three goals, gooo Clyde Monster!

 Kautri and her husband are Clyde's much beloved primary teachers, so we had to get a quick picture with the three of us :).

 Oh, and a picture of Clyde with BOTH grandmas :). Grandma Izatt walked a bit with Bri (Lee walked the race with his kids and the stroller) also ran a bit, good work!

I'm really glad I got to be a part of the race for the third year in a row. It ended up being a super crazy week, but it was so amazing to see all of the pink 'survivor' shirts and be reminded of how brave those women are and how vital the Susan G. Komen Foundation is to those fighting cancer.

...And on a related note, I'm participating in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in July and I'd LOVE for any and everyone (2nd Ward members in particular!!) to come join me! Here's some info about the what this event/fundraiser is in general: Relay for Life. Here's the details about the one I'm doing: Ada County Relay for Life. AND, last but not least, here's the specific team I'm on: No One Fights Alone, which is captain-ed by my amazing, strong, brave friend Lara Ames. So, if you thinking hanging out with me and other cool people and taking turns walking laps and pulling a mid-summer all-nighter sounds AWESOME (how could it not??) sign up to join the team!!