Malissa wanted to run this race to teach the kids what it means to support a good cause.
I am coming down to the wire on my marathon training so I have decided not to run any more races until after my marathon. That way I can focus on the training and stick to my schedule. So the kids and Malissa did this one without me. I was there as their cheerleader, though.
The race was in uptown Charlotte, so we got up at 5:30 AM and fought the traffic to find a parking spot. That was the only part I was worried about, but wasn't that big of a problem.
Here are the running "teams":
Michael and Alicia are running together.
Malissa and Kyle are running together.
As we were waiting we heard a beep and saw this cart coming, so we scooted out of the way and saw who was driving. It was DeAngelo Williams, starting running back for the Carolina Panthers. He has a game tomorrow in Chicago, but wanted to support this race, and was the guest race starter.
I stood and waited with everyone until just before starting time and took this picture of Tryon St. That's a lot of people.
Malissa took this picture as she was running.
I wanted to take video of them finishing, but couldn't get the camera ready in time after I spotted them. Here are Michael and Alicia finishing.
After the race, we caught up with our neighbors, here are some pics we took:
Here are a few video highlights:
This part written by Malissa:
As Owen said earlier, I wanted to run this race with the kids to teach them what it means to support a good cause. I chose the Race for the Cure for many reasons. My Grandma died of breast cancer when I was pregnant with Kyle, my good friend Joana's sister is fighting breast cancer right now, Kyle's teacher from last year is fighting her second round of cancer right now, and a friend of mine from Utah, Jill, her son-in-law just passed away this week from a rare form of cancer (he did not have breast cancer, but cancer is cancer, right?). Today I ran this race for all four of them.
We chose to run the non competitive race to help take the focus off the kids so that they could see what this race is really about. Michael is very competitive and did not like this decision at first. After the race he said he was glad we made him run the non competitive with Alicia. All three of the kids saved their money and donated it to help find a cure.
Being the laid back kind of person that I am, I enjoyed the non competitiveness of this race. Don't get me wrong, I love the feeling I get before a competitive race and the high that I get from pushing myself to the limits. I just really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and singing with the crowd as we got ready to start.
Throughout the race I thought about the four people that I was running for. Remembering some of my favorite moments with my grandma. I said a little prayer for Joana's sister and Kyle's teacher that they would win their fight with this ugly disease. I also said a prayer for Jill's family as they go through this difficult time in their lives. And I thanked God that through running I have regained my health.
