We Did a 5k!

It was weird being "in charge" of a race. As Dr. Hines (one of the most motivational people I've ever met) says, "you need to learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable." Well, I did that last weekend at the Marlinton World Run Day 5k as we set up the table of stuff, talked to and received money from each person who wanted to run, and even remembered to ask most of them to sign the liability waiver. I never would've been able to organize the race if it weren't for very helpful and responsible volunteers: my mom Martha, sisters AnnaLew and Sara, husband Bryan, and bro-in-laws Paul and CC, and of course Kate the VISTA worker.

The run went off without a hitch, even though everyone had to wait a few minutes past start time for 3 latecomers to sign up and pay their dues. To me and the Friends of Midwives (the beneficiary of the event) the extra $45 was well worth it! All in all, after making up for our expenses with kind donations from area businesses, we cleared $250 for Friends of Midwives, which is more than enough to pay for their website to keep going for another year.

We had 18 runners and/or walkers in the race, and that was perfect for me. Many more than that would've been a lot more stress and work. As it was, we had enough goodie bags for everyone, and I got to meet every one of them and cheer them on as they ran by us on their way to the finish. The first place finisher was no surprise: a local high school track runner who was there waiting for the race to start even before we got there to set up. He finished in 25:some minutes. We had 3 walkers brining up the rear, at right around 52 minutes. It was a great time.

The best part of the day for me though was running and walking with my sister, AnnaLew. I had decided the night before that I just couldn't run the race at my best; I was totally worn out from being out of town for a whole week, and driving 7 hours the day before. Anyway, I decided that I would stay with Annie, no matter what. I knew she'd be willing to jog with me some, but that we'd be doing a lot of walking, too. We did just that, and it was amazing. The Greenbrier River Trail is so beautiful... and being on it with my sister on a brisk afternoon was just awesome. What's more, at the halfway point we got to say hello to Mom, Sara, and CC who were handing out water cups. As we came around the last turn at the end, we decided we'd run the rest of the way and wouldn't stop. It was so fun, and I was so proud of my little sister. Our husbands (the timekeepers) cheered us on at the end. I think it took us 47 minutes or so.

While planning a 5k is stressful, if you have the kind of volunteers we did, it's not so bad. And as we said that day, at least we'll have this first one under our belts. Annie and I also decided that next time we plan one, we'll have a short run for little kids at the end. After all, we have 4 of them between us. So, I guess there will be 5k event planning in my future, too! I'd like to get good at it, and make it even more fun for everyone than 5ks usually are. I'm sure we could think of something... :)