Wolfson Run 5 to Save Lives

Wolfson Run 5 to Save Lives

January 29, 2011

Jacksonville, Florida

Yes...that's me in the middle, decked out in purple and white (my high school colors).  The crazy lady with her arms in the air is my little sister.  You may know her as "The Grocery Fairy."  

She talked me into running a 5-mile race to benefit Wolfson Children's Hospital yesterday.  It was a gorgeous day and much of the run was along the St. Johns River.  I did two bridges during the course of the run and rolled across the finish line in less time than I ever imagined possible.  Officer Morningstar assured me that if I passed out on the Acosta Bridge, he would pick me up off the pavement.  Fortunately, I made it up one side and down the other without issue.

I've run several 5-kilometer races (3.1 miles) but yesterday was my very first five-mile run.  Before we got started, I stood at the starting line to cheer for Mrs. Alvarado and her daughter. They were running the 1-mile fun run together.  They were kind enough to return the favor when we blew out of the starting block 30-minutes later.  Thanks, Haley!! Your words of encouragement saw me through to the end.

If you ever want to have a fun-filled time pounding the pavement, do it with my sister.  She engages people in conversation up and down the course while she's waiting on me to catch up with her.  She enlists people along the sidelines to cheer for me.  She even created me an identical playlist on her daughter's iPod and syncronized our music before beginning the race.  She sings, she cheers, she high-fives policemen along the way - it's a blast.  Even the policemen got in on the fun - one of them hit his siren and played "whoop whoop" on my behalf as I trotted by.  It was such a hoot!

Matter of fact, if the weather's nice next weekend, you may find the two of us running in the 5-mile Winter Beach Run.  I'd really like to know what it's like to run 5 miles on a semi-flat surface.

Until next time...