We Lived To Tell The Tale

We did it. 

And we can still walk, which is slightly surprising.  Saturday morning in Memphis dawned bright and clear.  And freezing; the wind chill at the starting line was 21 degrees!  We were so excited it didn't seem that cold.  Although Christian was willing to wear a hat with very little persuasion, so that should tell you something. 

We went down early to watch Uncle Chris and Uncle Gary take off in the 5K.  Aunt Ginger and Ara were running the Half with us.  Although, really, we shouldn't even be in the same SENTENCE with them, let alone the same race!  (They are REAL runners!)

And then at 7:45 we lined up in our corral.  Not this one with the 8 minute mile... we were WAY in the back in #15! With the other turtles snails casual runner/walkers.

Aunt Amy took this picture between Mile Markers #2 and #3.  We were still smiling at this point (and running!) 

 I just let Christian go a little ahead of me so I can keep an eye on him.  ahem.

Although we were still having fun at this point, we weren't having NEARLY as much fun as my niece, Abigail!  Shown here with not one but TWO Elvis's!  For some reason Carolyn was too shy (HA.) to have her picture taken...

Our wee supporter, Baby Isabella.

Our route took us along the Mississippi River, through downtown Memphis and past the Pyramid and Beale Street.  We also went past Sun Studio (where Elvis recorded his first hit record) and past the pink buildings of St. Jude. 

Christian's ankle was really bothering him from an old war soccer injury.  We were doing okay through mile 8.  Mile 9 was REALLY long.  So long that we thought we had missed the #9 marker and were at the water station for Mile 10.  Big disappointment when we found out it was only mile 9!  But we persevered.  Just after Mile 11 we passed the Target House.  This is where Carson lived while he was receiving treatments at St. Jude.  There were lots of patients and their families out braving the cold to cheer on the runners.  There was even a family of LSU fans all decked out in their purple and gold.  As you can imagine, Christian got a lot of cheers when he went by in his LSU hat!  They looked so happy and normal; until you noticed that the teenage boy was wearing a medical mask.  And HE was cheering for US.

Mile 13 was hell.  All we could do was concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other.  Christian was almost in tears his ankle was hurting so badly.  I asked him if he wanted to stop and he looked at me like I was crazy!  We discussed how Carson had never given up and that helped him push through it.  

At Mile 13 I let him take off and sprint for the finish line. (Brat.  His time was 2 minutes faster than mine!)  

As you can see, we look a little worse for wear from our earlier, pre-race photo!

We finished in 3:31 and 3:33.  We certainly didn't set any records for speed, but you know my motto is "COMPLETE, not compete!"  Actually, I was happy with our time.  We were doing 15 1/2 minute miles for the first half and really, any finish under 4 hours would have made me happy.  And most importantly we raised over $11oo for St. Jude.  Thank you so much to each of you for supporting us!  (It's not too late if you still want to donate!)

My second favorite shirt!  

The one I really wanted said on the front "This seemed like a good idea three months ago!" and on the back "Race Official, Do Not Pass".  But they didn't have my size.

A great weekend and a great cause.