Run for a Reason

Brian has decided to do a 5k each month of the summer. He's run two so far ... one in May and the second one was today.  I hope to be joining him in July.

 The race was downtown, and it was nice to see that we still have a downtown after the flood.  The boys enjoyed it, and I curbed my negativity enough to get out of bed early, pump in the car, stand around in the heat with a bunch of skinny people in shortshorts, and not complain too excessively.

The run raised money for St. Jude Children's Hospital, which needs $1.5 million per day to stay in operation.  
 Go back and read that sentence again.

The national anthem was sung by a tiny little girl in her 28th month of chemotherapy.  After that, I was inspired to bite my tongue about how hot it was and how heavy the baby was getting and how my feet hurt just from standing around not racing.

We all participated in the one mile fun run prior to the big race. The four of us finished in less than 14 minutes, which is within one minute of the winner. The, um, winner of the 5k.  Ahem.

John tore off running 90-to-nothing but was walking before the half.  He rallied though, and was rewarded at the end with all the Gatorade he wanted.

I was tired of taking photos by the time Brian crossed the finish line, but we were very proud of his endurance in the heat and his 22ish minute time (with ZERO training, I might add)!

Afterwards, we all went home and sacked out.  Then John got up and mowed the entire back yard.

The experiences of today reminded me how lucky we are to have these two strong kiddos and our own health.  I will never be able to fathom our blessings, which is why I attempt to cultivate gratitude anywhere and everywhere I can.  This is hard for me as I tend to despair a lot and focus on the negative.  But after a day like today, I am reminded of all that is lovely in my life.

Happy weekend!