I did something today that I’ve never done before – I RAN an
entire 5k. Yes, I RAN the entire thing! Okay, so water stops don’t count!
After working so hard with Couch to 5k, and pushing my
limits on my long Sunday runs, I thought that I was ready to do this.
I headed out for Newberry, bright and early, ready to get
this done! I knew NOTHING about Sam, or
Duchenne, or anything else – I was there for the bling.
Packet Pickup was inside Newberry Elementary School.
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| Newberry High School |
I got my bib and goodies and threw them in the car, then headed
back in to use the little girls’ room.
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| Sure beats Porta-Potties! |
I walked around a bit before the race, since I was actually
early!
There was a bounce house for kids.
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| Captain America over there on the right |
There were a LOT of Silent Auction baskets set out (none of
them appealed to me).
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| Everything was donated by the community |
Fit-2-Run was there as well.
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| Fit-2-Run, always trying to sign you up for free shoes |
There was a speech at the start line, about Sam and his life
and how awesome he is, and then we were set free, it was GO time.
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| Middle of the pack view |
I ‘took off’ slowly, not wanting to tire myself out. Mile 1 seemed to come quickly.
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| Mile 1 already? |
I was pacing these two little girls (well, they were pacing
me, I think) and they didn’t seem to grasp how AWESOME I was. I was RUNNING the
WHOLE THING!
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| Walk faster, that awesome chick in the skirt is behind us... |
Mile 2 showed up and I was blown away at myself – I was
STILL running! I was hot as hell, but I was still trotting!
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| OMG - I'm 2/3 of the way done and STILL running! |
Okay, so I didn’t run the WHOLE thing – I did stop to take
this photo. It struck a nerve this time (and I’ve seen signs like this a lot).
But then I began running again. There’s no stopping me now!
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| I always COULD run, but I wasted the gift for too long |
The finish line was in sight, and Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off”
spurred me on towards the finish. I was cheered in with Newberry High
cheerleaders.
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| And yet, I still don't like cheerleaders. |
Not to be outdone, I celebrated my finish with Thor! Man, this kid had some ENERGY!
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| I think we were dancing. Not too sure about this one. |
My official time?
50:43. Ouch. NOT my slowest time, though! Way back in 2012, my FAM time was 51:00! I beat 18 people (out of 161 total
runners).
After my awesome finish, I celebrated with a free sno-cone
(okay, I won’t lie – sno-coneS. Plural. I think I had 3. I love sno-cones!)
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| Nectar of the Gods - Cherry Sno-Cones |
Throughout the race, there was a DJ playing good music (and
wholesome music, not crap, either). Once
everyone came through the finish, he began playing line dances, like Cha Cha
Slide, and well, this 37-year-old mom learned how to Cha Cha!
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| Two hops this time |
While there is no video of ME dancing, I did
attach a clip of SAM dancing with everyone. He taught me, pretty much at this
moment, that you are only limited by what you refuse to do. Kid in a
wheelchair? Dancing!
Because Sam liked super heroes so much – his whole race was
super hero themed, obviously! – there was even a costume contest. I saw lots of
folks in Wal-Mart shirts that had capes, but there was a straight-up Captain
America, a Wolverine, and of course, Thor.
Thor won, and no win could have been more deserved! He was upbeat the entire time, dancing like a
maniac and cheering for everyone. That kid is a good future ahead of him, if he
keeps up that attitude!
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| I'm not sure whose smile is bigger? |
Sadly though, it was time to head out, so I took my 3rd
sno-cone to go and piled in to the car. I’d never been to Newberry before, so I
set out to do some exploring. It took about 3 minutes before I hit the edge of
town, so I turned around and ended up getting stuck on the main drag, waiting
for a train to go by.
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| Blain is a pain, and that is the truth |
I think we were there for almost 10 minutes! Traffic backed up quite a bit behind me.
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| I guess that truck gave up |
Once home, I checked out some of my swag. I got a medal and a cool sticker.
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| Simple but pretty medal |
I got a small Campus USA first aid bag (I love these!).
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| Ziploc bag filled with runner's first aid stuffs |
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| Antacid, Tylenol, Mints, Bandaids, Wet Ones - all good stuff! |
And I got this letter, from the family of Sam. I thought it was very touching.
I think I will definitely do this next year!
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