Run for Education

Today I ran a 10K in the Run for Education at Damonte Ranch High School. It didn't start until 9:00 which was nice, and as a double bonus, it was only a 5 minute drive from my house! Fellow Team Library Dork runner, Turi, ran with me today and played coach, but in the most motivational way possible without ever having to say a word to make me run faster. We chatted, and he was going just a tad faster than I wanted to go, and as a result I was well under my goal of an hour with a time of 55:45, according to my watch, which I feel is always more accurate than the chips we tie to our shoes. That's just me though. It was a beautiful day, and the run was very well organized, complete with shuttle buses from a near by shopping mall. And the cutest little kindergartner singing our national anthem! Turi had his Garmin strapped on to keep stats on our pace and the route. And the post race picture I took from my iPhone- I think my hand was moving when I took it...

After the 10K, they had a half mile fun run for all the Washoe County elementary schools (my parents shuttled them from home after my race, and then stayed for their race too- thanks Mom and Dad!). Sean and Ashton were SUPER excited to run today (but mostly because they wanted to get a medal). Here is a picture of us together with our race bibs, waiting for their race to start.

They were in the K-2nd grade heat, and I was able to run with them. We started back too far from the start line and got stuck behind a sardine crowd of kindergartners and first graders. (To give you some perspective of how many kids were there, I heard them announcing the top attending schools, and their school was second with nearly 200 kids! It was a very well-attended event, even for the 5 and 10K.) Once we managed to weave our way through the little'uns (I had to take the long way around the outside and sprint to catch up with them!), we settled into a sporadic pace, sometimes jogging, sometimes sprinting, but most importantly, never stopping. One lap around the school and it was over! They did great, Sean beating Ashton and me. I'm so pleased that I can share my love of running with them in this way- we take little hikes up on the trails every now and then, but running with lots of people with the same goal is inspiring and motivating for an entirely different reason. Great job today everyone! And thanks for supporting our schools, and our childrens' education~

Ashton (left) and Sean- always together! :) I'm the luckiest mom ever!