Susan G. Komen Race Day

It was wierd getting up this morning and leaving the house before 7am. I'm never out of the house this early with or without the kids, so it was a little strange, but a nice treat. I showed up at RiverTown Crossings Mall where the race was taking place and it was already buzzing with people checking in and visiting all the booths from the sponsors. It was really neat seeing so many people of all different ages there ready to participate in the days event.

Luckily I had my cell phone in the car, because I found out that the 5k wasn't just around the circle drive that went around the mall, but it was to exit the mall drive and go on a main road and then wrap back around to the mall. In order to do this there were roads that would be closed. So needless to say if Levi wasn't able to get to the mall by 8am, he wouldn't be able to park anywhere near the mall. Unfortunately even though I was able to talk to him about what all was happening he still wasn't able to get into the mall parking lot, so he had to park at Meijer and then walk in with the kids. Kodos to him for doing such a great job getting out the door so early and then finding his way around tons of people to be able to be at the finish line with the kids.

Here I am (#1750) getting ready to cross the finish line

I did not get to see Levi and the kids before the race, which probably was a good thing since as soon as the race was over Kaitlin clung onto me. While getting lined up for the race they had people with signs holding up numbers. They wanted us to line up at the number of minutes it takes us to run a mile. I started off at seven and once learning this I backed up to the nine, which I wish I wouldn't have done. Way to many people claimed to be fast runners and they were not, so once the race started I was barely moving. I had to zig-zag between people to finally get a place where I could run at my pace. It was awesome seeing so many people running together. At one point while reaching the top of a hill I did a quick look back and I couldn't even see the end, which was amazing since I couldn't see the people leading the race either. At each mile marker they had someone calling out times. I was excited to hear 8:50 for my first mile, which is my fastest time yet. Then again at mile two they called out 18:15, which is also my fastest for two miles. And then at the end the clock showed 28:04:??, which is yet again my fastest 3.1 mile run. So needless to say I'm pretty happy with how I did in my first 5k.
Soon after I crossed the finish line I found Levi and the kids. Apparently they were right there by the finish line cheering for me, but since I was listening to my MP3 player I didn't hear them. I did look for them though, but I was focusing on finishing the race.

Kaitlin excited to see Mommy

Daddy and Malachi

Well I heard that they had 5,600 people participate in today's Race For The Cure. I'm not sure how many runners verse walkers, I'm sure I'll find out later today once they post the timed results. I saw on the preliminary board that I placed 37th in the 25-29 age range, and 435 overall. (I just saw the final results and there was 1405 runners.)
Thank you again to all of you who sponsored me. Not only did I make my goal, but Komen Grand Rapids surpassed their goal, which is great news. And I had the opportunity to witness many survivors run or walk in the race, and Komen GR made it a very special day for them, which was just awesome to see.