I think I can go ahead and call the first ever Catholic Exchange Virtual 5K a success.
Some of you not only ran/walk/limped/crawled it, but you even managed to blog about it.
Colleen runs faster than I ever will.
Micaela ran it and took pictures.
Amy completed it in the rain with two children in tow.
Ellen could feel my “haunted New England” vibe as her route took her past a tremendously old, totally haunted house.
Sarah ran it in a pink shirt I’m seriously coveting.
Jen is so tough she ran TWO 5Ks in one day! (kinda)
And Dwija is going to have to do another post on the run, just to include all the hilarious pictures (featuring a whole host of bloggers) of her 5k-turned-frat-party. This picture she sent me just may be my favorite:
There were runners from Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, California, Michigan, Massachusetts, Connecticut, some other states I’m forgetting to mention, and then Canada, and South Korea. A special mention to my friend Michelle in Australia who wasn’t able to run on Saturday due to a family bout with the flu, but whose training picture you can see in the upper right hand corner of the collage. That’s her- pushing a jogging stroller that seats four children. She told me how much the stroller weighs, but it was in the metric system, and the mind recoiled at the thought of anyone ever jogging while pushing that much weight.
Finally, I’d like to say thank you very much to everyone who participated. And for those of us who wished we had trained a little more than we did (or, in my case, at all), I leave you with my mother-in-law’s words of wisdom, which had me spitting my post-race wine out onto the computer I was laughing so hard:
“Why or why do your plans sound like such great ideas that one would go for a 5K without any practice, training, or dry weather, or flat ground? why why why ?? As I headed out, I heard the song in my head going “the things we do for love” later in the walk, I wonder why am I doing this, why do Cari’s ideas sound like such good ideas? Anyhow, I am sure I am a better person for having participated in the Virtual 5K. About mile 1 – my right hip began to have a very pronounced shooting pain, by mile 1.5 or so, I was wondering where are the workers with the water?, about mile 2 my thighs began to ache, about mile 2 1/4 I began to pray, for my BSF class members, my children and grandchildren (each one by name). Then, at the end as at the beginning, I began to thank God for His creation. I was amazed that He created an air bubble in a puddle for me to see. I thanked Him, walked along in awe – – and He began to make more bubbles for me to see. Praise God for His gentleness, His creativity, His power, and His love. I survived !!“
