Just when I thought my most important race of every year couldn’t get any better or more memorable…Oh how wrong I was. Family, friends, victories. These moments are what makes #everymileamemory and this year was the best yet. While it was much cooler for this year's Race for the Place, the course was still as mentally challenging as always (I swear this year it felt like it was just about all up hill!!) and there were many times I wanted to stop and walk, just like always, but just like always I told myself slowing down was ok but stopping was not an option because the people I was running in honor and memory of were fighting/or had fought something much tougher than 3.1 miles and THEY didn't give up so I wasn't going to either. At one point I honestly felt like I was barely moving so I thought for sure this race would be one of my slowest but that was ok. This has never been about me anyway but rather the people I run for and I am just happy to make it to the finish line for them one way or another. It ends up I didn't do as bad as I thought because when I got to the 3 mile mark and heard the time called off, I was still in the 24's and sure enough, crossed the line with an official finish of 24:49 which was only 6 seconds off from my RftP course PR. As always, no live results at this race so we had to wait until the awards to find out how we all did. Thanks to my inspirations who kept me going when I wanted to quit, I was shocked when I was awarded 2nd OA Female Survivor (5th OA in the Survivor category) but not only that, I was called up again winning 3rd in my AG. In the 5 years I have been running the RftP, I have never been able to get past that #5 spot in my AG and this year I finally made the top 3. Oh.my.gosh to say I was excited is an understatement.
But what made this year's race even more memorable is it's the first time I've had not only one of my inspirations racing "with" me (who was running his first race after prostate cancer surgery less than 10 months ago AND set a new record in the Survivor category with at time of 16:51 right out of the gate) but seeing him standing there with his family the last 0.1 of the race and giving me a high five as I was making my way towards the finish. There are no words to describe how that felt and yet another moment I will never forget. Best race ever for so many reasons.
Thank you to everyone who supported the race that is near and dear to me for so many reasons; whether you joined in on the fun on the cold and rainy race day, supported my efforts by making a donation, or cheered us on from afar. But the biggest thanks, other than to God of course for giving me another day, goes to the ones who inspired me and got me to the finish line. You gave me hope when I didn’t have much and crossing that line and running "for you" was my biggest victory…better than any award I could ever win. Here’s to you Uncle Jr., Coach Craig, Constantin, Donna, Rachel, Theresa, and all the other warriors, the survivors, and the taken from years past. Just keep swimming.
#itsallaboutthe5s #celebratelife #racefortheplace #thegatheringplace#cancer #cancersurvivor #justkeepswimmingandrunning#celebratetgp20 #NCSD2019 #IRun4Jacob
To learn more about why this race means so much to me or to make a donation, visit my personal page Joy Just Keeps Swimming...and Running Take 5.
The Race for the Place 5K and 1 Mile Walk benefitting The Gathering Place, is held every year on National Cancer Survivors Day, the first Sunday of June. I will be running this race have having my team Just Keep Swimming...and Running every year as long as the good Lord allows and I'd love for you to join me!
