I haven't been feeling well lately so I opted for the 1 mile family walk (Wuss for the Cure) as opposed to the 5k run/walk (Race) Also participating with us was my sister Lora Ferguson, my nephew Jacob Sisco, my neice in law Melissa Long my grand"daughter" Baylee and actually running in the 5k, my brother in law Don Ferguson. Due to a back injury my sister Cate Sisco Slept in for the Cure and good friend Brandi Davis might have had a little too much fun at a party the night before and also Slept in for the Cure. Together we were Team Piece of Cake.
Sunday morning dawned and after a nourishing breakfast of black currant yogurt topped with cranberry almond crunch and approximately 400 phone calls to find out who was going and where we were meeting, we arrived at Robert's Stadium parking lot to wait for the rest of the team and lament that we hadn't brought any coffee.
And I got up at 6 am to wait for your family in a parking lot?
It seemed like forever before Lora and Don arrived and of course Melissa and Jacob hadn't even left their houses. Everyone did get there before the last bus left, so in the end it was fine.
Lora Ferguson, the first of our team to arrive, with Baylee the last of our team to arrive.
Yes, that is Melissa taking off her shirt in a public parking lot. She says she can do the same with undies.
Here is Jacob, the only one of us with enough sense to preregister for the Race.
There wasn't anyone handy to get all of us and Don had run off already but Jacob took this photo of all the Pink Shirts on Team Piece of Cake.
Don left on one of the earlier buses but the rest of us wanted to sit together. So after everyone who was going to get there (remember Brandi may or may not have had too much 'fun' the night before.) got there we headed off to the big, yellow school bus which I forgot to take a photo of.
Baylee, who is just one year old had never ridden on a school bus before.
Karl, who is British, hadn't either.
The bus dropped us off a short distance from the actual race and we had to walk the rest of the way.
The crowds were unbelievable. It's hard to imagine that so many people could care enough to get their butts out of bed on a Sunday but they were there. In fact over 13,000 people participated in the Race this year.
We managed to find Don almost immediately in spite of the huge crowds. (Most likely because he's hilariously tall and skinny and was wearing a bright red shirt with a cake on it)
Grandpa Don (who actually RAN in the 5k) holding Baylee, who Strolled for the Cure.
After finding Don we headed off to late registration to get our T'Shirts and Race bibs.
If you've never done a Race this is the part that is hard. You pay your $25 for the privelage of a white shirt with the Race logo, a racer's number and in addition you can pin bright pink In Celebration or in Memory of placards onto your shirt to tell people who you are Racing for. You look around you and there are women in special pink Survivior t'shirts. Some of them don't have any hair, some of them are carrying signs that say "10 years" or "6 years". Over to the right is a group of people wearing matching T'shirts that proclaim the name of a woman they are racing in memory of. Then you think of some woman that you know and love, maybe more than one woman that you know and love, and if you're lucky you put her name on a In Celebration of instead of In Memory of and pin it to your back.
This is my first year racing. I didn't know that it was gonna make me cry. But I did and so did Lora and so did Melissa and when I asked my husband if it would be okay to carry his parents names with me too I could feel his sadness. I was fortunate to carry the name of two survivors with me. However being at the Race for the Cure brought back what they had gone through to become survivors.
I also discovered the night before the Race, that my Aunt Judy, who is on her second round with breast cancer, has been diagnosed with Lupus and a degenerative bone disorder. Carrying her name with me felt like an extraordinary responsibility and honor.
We got ourselves registered, dried our tears and Team Piece of Cake
waited for 9:30 and the start of the 5k race. Again, the amount of people participating was stunning. We tried to see Don but despite the hilariously tall and thin thing and the red shirt, lost him in the crowd.
Baylee and Melissa looking for Grandpa Don
and Karl foiling one of Baylee's escape attempts.
The 5k is the bigger part of Race day and literally thousands of runners and walkers pass through the opening gate. An announcer calls out team names and the names of Survivors as they pass. After the majority of the 5k-ers pass they let the ones walking in the 1 mile Family Walk line up at their start.
This is Karl heading towards the starting line.
And we're off!
The 1 Mile course takes you from the back of Eastland mall past Macy's and around the front almost to JC Penney's.
We decided about 3/4 of the way through that we all could have walked the 5k.
In fact it was an easy walk and a beautiful day for it.
The people in front of us.
The people behind us.
Apparently a few others agreed
For the last leg of the race we let Baylee out of her stroller to walk. She was initially way more interested in the flowers than actually walking anywhere. With Grandma Lora on one side and Mommy on the other she decided it was ok to go, go, go!
Which was a good thing because we were almost at the end where you get to be attacked by the big, pink, balloon arch.
All in all it was a great experience and if they continue to have it on Sunday then I will continue to Wuss or Race depending on my health at the time.
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